KOZHIKODE: Lack of proper internal auditing, that too for many years, has become a major impediment for KSRTC to assess its real state of affairs. Though there is a new team at the helms, there are none to apprise them of the real financial state of the public sector behemoth. Critics say a coterie never allows computerisation as they can easily manipulate files when the data remain scattered in various departments in hundreds of files. Whenever there was an inspection of the accounts department, some crucial files on the purchase of spare parts disappear.
A key official told DC that data from the purchasing department is the most inaccessible. In all the purchases in the past, there were commission agents, and some of them are unionists. To ensure secrecy, most of them keep their accounts in cooperative banks in Thiruvananthapuram. Though the new team including two chartered accountants and a deputy general manager is trying to pull out the skeletons from the cupboard, they failed to access the critical files.
They are running from pillar to post inquiring how to access files dumped somewhere and details of financial dealings. "They may be wise enough to deal with modern-day companies and firms, but to set things right in the accounts of KSRTC, they need much more training," a senior employee told DC. "It is an Aegean stable where hundreds of crores of rupees drained off to somewhere."
