PCMC ‘erroneously’ deposits Rs 25 lakh into bank accounts of meritorious students twice, asks beneficiaries to return money

Every year, the social welfare department of the PCMC deposits Rs 10,000 to the bank account of each student of Classes 10 and 12 of private schools and colleges under the SSC board who secure more 80 per cent marks. Those who secure above 90 per cent marks get Rs 15,000. Meritorious students of ICSE and CBSE boards get half the amount.

In the last academic year, 2022-23, there were a total of 250 students, including those from CBSE and ICSE schools, who were supposed to get a collective amount of Rs 25 lakh by April this year. However, officials of the social welfare department found out that they had erroneously sent the list of beneficiaries to the Pimpri-Chinchwad branch of Bank Of Baroda, where PCMC has its account, twice. This resulted in a confusion and the bank deposited an additional Rs 25 lakh into the accounts of the beneficiaries.

According to sources, the civic body officials have told the administration that the first list got deleted from the system and therefore, they believed that it has not reached the bank. As a result, the list was sent to the bank again.

Deputy Municipal Commissioner Ajay Charthankar said, “It is not a loss for the PCMC, we are in the process of recovering Rs 25 lakh.”

Pointing out that it was a mistake on the part of the officials of the civic body, Charthankar said, “We have so far recovered the amount from over 100 students. We have requested all the parents to cooperate with us. We have been repeatedly following up with them. Many of them have responded. We are confident of recovering the entire amount.”

Charthankar said the administration will find out how the mistake occurred and initiate action in the matter. “We will initiate action against the employees responsible for the mistake. At the same time, we will take up the issue with the bank and find out how it could have been prevented. It should not have happened. We will ensure such mistakes do not occur in the future.”

Kallappa Torangi, a resident of Bhosari, said, “My son completed his Class 10 from a Bhosari school. He received Rs 10,000 from the PCMC in his bank account first in December and then again in April. When we received a call from the PCMC about the mistake, we went to the bank and returned the amount.”

Arnav Randive, one of the beneficiaries, said, “The amount from the PCMC came twice in my account. We were also surprised but we returned the amount.”

Asked why meritorious students of CBSE and ICSE board schools get half the amount of what those under the SSC board get, Charthankar said, “The families of the students studying in CBSE and ICSE schools can afford higher fees. Financially, the families of the students of CBSE and ICSE schools are better off than those whose wards study in SSC board schools.”

Charthankar said while the social welfare department gives the amount to meritorious students of private schools, the civic body’s education department gives the amount to students hailing from schools run by the PCMC. “Our amount is less than what is given by the school education department,” he said.