A clerical error by a State Bank of India staffer led to the misuse of funds meant for the Dalit Bandhu scheme, the flagship programme of the Telangana government to give one-time capital assistance of ₹10 lakh per SC family as a 100% grant/subsidy to establish a suitable income generating source.
Saifabad police, who registered a case against an ‘accidental’ beneficiary, said that on April 24 an employee of the SBI Rangareddy District Collectorate branch accidentally transferred ₹1.50 crore into the (salary) accounts of 15 employees of Lotus Hospitals, ₹10 lakh each.
“Soon after realising the mistake, the bank officials called the employees and asked them to transfer back the amount. While 14 employees reverted the money, lab technician Mahesh failed to send back the money, as he was not available over phone,” a senior official said.
Assuming that ₹10 lakh were deposited into his bank account by Prime Minister Narendra Modi under some scheme, Mahesh withdrew some amount to clear his debt. “Despite repeated requests, he was not returning the money. As a result, on Wednesday, the bank official lodged a complaint, and a case under Section 403 of IPC was registered against Mahesh,” the officer said.
While they managed to recover ₹6.70 lakh, Mahesh still has to pay ₹3.30 lakh to the bank, he said.
“A copy-paste error by the bank employee has led to such a big fuss,” the officer added.
Ironically, no case was registered against the bank employee for his mistake.
