Opposition councillors in Kochi have strongly criticised the city’s corporation authorities for depositing public funds in a private sector bank. According to them, this action goes against the state government’s clear rule that all local bodies, like city corporations, must keep their funds in the state treasury.
The councillors said that by choosing a private bank over the state treasury, the authorities are showing a lack of trust in the government system. Opposition leader Antony Kureethra said, “The government had directed all local governments to keep their money in a special treasury savings account. But despite this rule, the Kochi corporation is depositing money in private bank accounts. Even though the CPM is the ruling party in the state, the CPM-led Kochi corporation doesn’t seem to trust the state treasury.”
He further questioned, “If the mayor and corporation do not trust the state treasury, how can the public be expected to trust the government with their money? People fear that if the money is kept in the treasury, the government might use it for other purposes.”
Kureethra also pointed out that the corporation had the option to deposit funds in public sector banks (like SBI or Canara Bank), but instead chose a private bank, which raises more doubts.
Another councillor, MG Aristotle, who is the secretary of the UDF parliamentary party in the corporation, added more details. He said that according to the rules, all of the corporation’s money should be kept in one single bank account. However, the authorities broke this rule by withdrawing around Rs 10 crore from public banks like Canara Bank and moving it to a private bank. As a result, now the corporation’s money is spread across several banks, which is not allowed.
The corporation authorities, in their defense, argued that if the money is kept in the state treasury, it becomes difficult to withdraw funds whenever needed. But the opposition claims this is just an excuse and not a valid reason for breaking the rules.
