Madhya Pradesh’s School Education Department is under scrutiny as it has been identified as the department with the highest number of offices flagged in a state-wide investigation into alleged financial irregularities involving government payments totaling Rs 648 crore. This probe is being conducted by the State Financial Intelligence Cell (SFIC), which is examining hundreds of crores in government payments suspected to be irregular, suspicious, fraudulent, duplicate, or excessive.
Investigation Findings
The SFIC has identified Rs 349 crore in irregular transfers and an additional Rs 299 crore in suspicious payments, all of which contribute to the total amount under scrutiny. A senior official from the state’s Accounts and Treasury Department clarified,
“"The Rs 600 crore figure which has come to the fore is data collected from across the districts in bits and pieces and sent to the collectorate level. We have not officially communicated this figure to the finance department. These cases come under investigation after the system throws up an alert over a discrepancy in payments. It’s investigated, and only then can we say whether the amount was siphoned off or was a genuine transaction."
Of the 187 Drawing and Disbursing Offices (DDOs) flagged across various government departments, 45 belong to the school education sector, the highest from any department. Other departments with flagged offices include:
- Revenue: 43 DDOs
- Tribal Affairs: 26 DDOs
- State Police: 12 DDOs
- Forest: 9 DDOs
- Health: 8 DDOs
- Higher Education and Public Works: 5 each
