Retired temple EOs in Tamil Nadu allege delay in terminal benefits over pending audit objections

At least 50 retired executive officers (EO) of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department in Tamil Nadu are waiting for their terminal benefits, as audit objections filed by the department’s internal auditors remain pending.

Former officers allege that the charges levelled by the auditors were sometimes “very frivolous.” An EO, who spent a meagre amount on buying some extra dry firewood to use in the Madapalli during the rainy season, was told to bear the cost himself. If a temple misplaces the receipt issued by the temple inspector after paying the department fees via cheque or demand draft, that amount will also have to be borne by the EO concerned. “They will not accept the bank statement as proof of payment,” another retired EO said.

A former EO said that an audit objection was raised after an additional amount was spent during the conduct of a festival in excess of the sanctioned amount. The temple trust board ratified the expenditure. However, the auditors did not. The EO was told to bear the additional cost, he said.

Errors in figures

Typos by the ministerial staff in numbers, too, are not condoned, but instead, the respective EOs have to pay the difference. For instance, at one temple, an amount of ₹10,000 was paid for video/photo coverage of a festival. But the final expenditure report said ₹1,00,000. Though the receipt and bank statement were produced, the auditors said that the EO’s action had led to a loss to the temple, and he was asked to cough up the unpaid money.

Jeganathan of the Tamil Nadu Temple Executive Officers Federation said that retirees from April 2019 onwards were being subjected to delays in the settlement of retirement benefits without any reason.

Former EOs plan protest

“At least two EOs have died without being able to pay for medical expenses. Some depend on their children for survival. One EO is working at a textile unit folding ready-made clothes on a per-hour basis. A group of former EOs are planning to stage a protest with begging bowls to highlight their plight next month. EOs who are in service are put to undue hardship since they are not being paid their salaries when they are transferred to other districts. It takes up to six months for the amounts to be settled,” he said.

V. Vetriselvan, former president of the federation, said that the audit objections are not being settled in a time-bound manner as they should. When IAS officer Phanindra Reddy was Commissioner, he issued two circulars stating that any audit objections pertaining to retiring officials should be settled as per G.O. M.s. No. 557 CT&RE Department, dated 8.4.1988. He also instructed that monthly reports be sent to the officer of the Commissioner. But these have not been implemented to date.

Similarly, though a G.O. issued last year said that terminal benefits can be stopped only in case of criminal complaints, suspension, contemplation of a criminal complaint, and disciplinary action pending, no relief is in sight for these 50-odd persons. “If we point out past court orders, department officials tell us those orders were meant for individual officers and those observations cannot be used in all cases,” he added.

Committees formed

Official sources in the HR&CE Department said that two level committees had been formed to review the audit objections and close them if the replies are genuine and supported by orders. Unless they are complex, these pending cases would be closed at the earliest, the sources added.