Digboi: Prasenjit Dutta, the then Deputy Manager at Punjab National Bank (PNB) Digboi’s Tingrai Branch in Assam’s Tinsukia district, will likely face action on charges of unauthorized sanction and subsequent transactions involving as many as 38 loan accounts held by several Self Help Groups under Tingrai Panchayat in Assam’s Tinsukia district.
Rajesh Paul, the Lead District Manager (LDM) of Tinsukia, was conducting an inquiry verifying the transactions here on Friday morning.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
“We are considering all the pros and cons related to the alleged transactions, and the circumstances leading to it are also being thoroughly examined,” asserted Paul.
Following the detection of the unauthorized official action by the then Deputy Manager, the investigating officer assured the affected Self Help Groups of favorable action regarding the payment of accumulated interest incurred in the loan accounts for the specific period.
Meanwhile, Sanjit Kumar, the Branch Manager who detected the anomalies earlier on July 19, said that bank officials disbursed the loan amount to around 38 SHGs’ savings accounts without informing or obtaining consent from the beneficiaries.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
Bank officials initially credited the unclaimed loan amounts to their loan accounts, later transferred them to savings accounts, and eventually reversed the transactions after a significant period.
The burden of paying the accumulated interest on the unavailed loan amounting to several lakhs for that period, however, is being borne by the poor agrarian beneficiaries of the SHGs.
“However, investigators have yet to unearth the circumstances that prompted the bank official to adopt this approach without proper sanction,” said Kumar in a defensive tone, suspecting that linked departments possibly compelled the act.
Meanwhile, responding to queries from the office-bearers of the Tai Ahom Yuba Parishad earlier in the bank on Friday morning, Kumar informed that based on the findings, the competent authority under the Dibrugarh Circle jurisdiction would initiate appropriate action.
“Later in the afternoon, Prasenjit Dutta, the then Deputy Manager and currently posted at the Tinsukia Highway branch, informed us that he carried out the transaction with the knowledge of another official serving in SRLM under the Tinsukia district administration,” said activists of the Ahom Parishad.
“It’s the duty of the Bank Mitra to disseminate information among the SHGs,” added the Deputy Manager.
Apprehension persists among the beneficiaries regarding the role of Hapjan Block Officials and SRLM staff for failing to disseminate vital information, such as the forceful and unnoticed sanctioning of loans and their subsequent disbursement into SHG loan accounts, violating standard procedures.
Notably, the Assam State Rural Livelihoods Mission (ASRLM), a government initiative under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), works to alleviate rural poverty by organizing the poor, especially women, into Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and federations, and by linking them to sustainable livelihood opportunities.