Dechen Dolkar

The Jamkhar Gewog Administration of Trashiyangtse reportedly misused over Nu 1.123 million in funds during the fiscal year spanning from 2021-22.

According to the annual audit report, Nu 1 million was misused, purportedly provided as an advance to the former gup for road improvement works.

However, the administration failed to provide supporting documents and related records for verification. The audit noted that even after the former gup retired, the advance remained unadjusted, indicating potential misuse. 

The audit requested submission of relevant documents for further review, warning of potential legal actions against those involved.

Furthermore, the audit pointed out that supporting documents to substantiate the relevancy of payments of employee advances were not provided. In response, the gewog administration claimed that the former gup had received the total advance amount in October 2021. 

However, during the gewog’s annual audit, it was found that the advance was settled due to unacceptable and incomplete bill submissions by the former gup. 

Nevertheless, the audit discovered that the funds were transferred directly to the personal account of the former gup.

Similarly, the gewog administration misused Nu 122,920, which was booked as a mobilisation advance to Tongzhang Hiring but was instead deposited into the personal account of the dealing accountant. 

The proprietor of Tongzhang Hiring confirmed via a telephone conversation that the firm did not receive such a mobilisation advance from Jamkhar Gewog. Legal actions were recommended as per the laws of the land.

In another instance, the Yangste Gewog administration misused Nu 6.9 million by the Gewog Administrative Officer (GAO), intended as an advance for constructing the bailey bridge at Tingringzampa under Lichen Chiwog, funded by the Climate Change Adaptation Project of the European Union. 

The audit found that the advances were frequently released into the personal account of the GAO without initiating the activity. However, the outstanding amount was eventually recovered and deposited into the audit recoveries account. 

The audit advised the gewog administration to recover applicable interest and take appropriate disciplinary actions against the dealing and supervising officials.

The GAO informed the audit that the amount was withdrawn and kept in the office’s safe box, with concurrence from the Gup and Mangmi. To verify the GAO’s claims, the audit sought a court warrant to access information recorded in bank statements of personal bank accounts. 

However, no instances of withdrawals of advances credited into the GAO’s bank account were observed by the audit.