The Times of India 07.12.2010
KMC spurned tax scam whistleblower
KOLKATA: Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) authorities severed ties with a whistleblower who alerted them about the tax scam now rocking the civic body.
Instead, KMC sheltered and re-employed the suspects and swept the matter under the carpet after severing ties with the whistle-blower. It was only when an elderly taxpayer from Behala came to verify her documents that the can of worms was prised open.
Pranjit De, owner of private firm Prosoft Engineering that supplied data entry operators to KMC, realized something was terribly wrong over four months ago. Four of the 40 operators supplied by him were functioning in a suspicious manner and he feared there were financial irregularities. In early September this year, De alerted KMC officials on a probable' tax scam at Tolly Tax department in Gariahat and Jadavpur and provided vital clues that indicated a probable misuse' of passwords by four data operators and even called for their removal.
To De's surprise, the alert did not send alarm bells ringing at the civic headquarters. He followed it up with several reminders to KMC top brass but the requests fell on deaf ears. Instead, civic authorities decided to terminate the services of Prosoft Engineering while retaining its 40 data entry operators, including the four persons who were under suspicion. All four were re-engaged in the same departments under three other agencies. One of these agencies was in operation at Tolly Tax when another property tax scam was unearthed in 2005.
"It is quite strange that the KMC authorities did not pay heed to my signal. I wanted four of my representatives to be shifted from Tolly Tax. I had recommended such a move because I anticipated a serious anomaly after going through a series of experiences at Tolly Tax where touts rule the roost," De said. He had even conceded within his close circles that he could land in trouble if the operators were not removed from Tolly Tax.
What exactly had De learnt that compelled him to press the panic button and seek the transfer of his own employees to a non-revenue department at KMC? Sources in the assessment collection department said that someone among his employees had tipped him off about a racket involving a section of Prosoft Engineering staff and KMC employees.
"Once alerted by his own staff, De became extremely nervous and wanted to wind up his job at the Tolly Tax department," a KMC revenue department official said. When De continued to voice his concern on a possible scam, the agreement with his firm on supply of 40 data entry operators to assessment collection centres located at Gariahat, Jadavpur, Tollygunge and Behala was terminated.
Incidentally, when De's data operators first began working in 2006, they were given access to the official password that empowered them not only to record transactions but also look at minute details of property tax collection and transactions. The internal audit objected to the move but the warning of the chief municipal auditor was ignored.
The racket that was unearthed at Tolly Tax has already spread its tentacles in some KMC offices. Reports of property tax anomalies are pouring in from other centres like Jadavpur and Behala. The recent scam unearthed at a Behala KMC office is linked to the same racket, a section of KMC assessment department officials conceded.
