Rs 3000 cr without claimants in Kerala treasuries; Govt cracks down on exploitation

Thiruvananthapuram: Around Rs 3,000 crores is lying in dormant accounts in Kerala state treasuries. This will also include investments of the deceased whose heirs have not turned up. With some treasury employees beginning to exploit such investments, the government started taking measures to transfer this money to the revenue account.

This amount in around 3 lakh accounts that have not been transacted for the past three years or more. The Law Department had recommended that such accounts be considered dormant and the money transferred to government accounts.

Recently, six employees were suspended and one person was arrested for illegally withdrawing Rs 15.6 lakh from the accounts of a pensioner and a deceased person in Kazhakootam sub-treasury. The government had noticed that some treasuries were diverting money from the dormant accounts. Employees withdrawing money from such accounts cannot be traced immediately.

There is ambiguity as to how long accounts should be retained where no transactions have taken place and no claimants have reached yet. The Law Department has informed that accounts without transactions for three consecutive years can be considered dead. After three years, this money can be transferred to the revenue account of the government.

The Law Department has also suggested that provision should be made for refunding the money if the account holders or legal heirs come forward. The Finance Department will take a decision in this regard soon.