Chandigarh adviser warns admn’s societies of strict action if rules not followed

Strict action will be taken against office bearers of societies constituted by the Chandigarh administration if rules are violated, UT adviser Dharam Pal said on Wednesday

Strict action will be taken against office bearers of societies constituted by the Chandigarh administration if rules are violated, UT adviser Dharam Pal said on Wednesday.

Chandigarh adviser Dharam Pal was chairing a meeting on the functioning of societies after several complaints were received on their working. (HT File)

Pal was chairing a meeting on the functioning of societies after several complaints were received on their working. In a stern warning to officer bearers of the societies, he directed them to hold regular executive council and annual general body meetings or face strict action. He also told them to prepare annual audit reports and put them in public domain and adhere to their laid down constitutions.

The administration has constituted several societies under the Societies Registration Act for most of its key departments. These are mostly manned by UT officials, though they work beyond the regular working of departments. Every society has its own board, auditors, etc and are governed by memorandum and articles of associations, which is necessary as per society and income tax rules.

Some of these include the Society for Promotion of IT in Chandigarh (SPIC), Society for Tourism & Entertainment Promotions in Chandigarh (STEPS), Chandigarh Renewal Energy and Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST), Rock Garden Society, Police Welfare Society, Red Cross Society and Labour Welfare Society.

Pal said, “We have been receiving several complaints against the working of these societies. There were complaints that their stipulated meetings were not held as per rules and there were issues in their audit reports. So, we called a meeting to review their functioning.”

The working of these societies has been under scanner for some time now. RK Garg, president Second Innings Association, said, “In these societies, the general financial rules of the government can be bye-passed, without inviting any audit objections.”

There have been also been allegations that these societies compromise on revenue receipts and budgetary allocations.