BSA held on charges of financial bungling

Rampur (UP), Jul 7: A Basic Siksha Adhikari (BSA), posted in Pratapgarh district, was arrested on charges of financial bungling to the tune of around Rs 8 lakh, police said today.

The accused Syed Tazammul Hussain, who was arrested last evening in the district, had allegedly purchased 146 sewing machines at an exorbitant rate to install in 73 schools of the district, running under Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, a scheme launched by the Union government to eliminate illiteracy.

Hussain had paid Rs 10,000 for each machine, which were available at Rs 4,000 per machine in the market, thus causing a loss of Rs 7.75 lakhs to the state exchequer. Later, the matter regarding the bungling was brought to the notice of state Lokayukta Justice N K Mehrotra's office, which initiated a probe into the incident.

During the enquiry, it was found that the BSA, who was formerly posted in the Rampur district in the same designation, had managed fake bills from two traders belonging to Barabanki and Lucknow and on the basis of said fraudulent documents, the enhanced payments were withdrawn. Further probes into the case are on, they added.

PTI