Saryu Rai fires fresh allegations over Banna, says RBI prevented transfer of incentives

Ranchi: MLA Saryu Rai on Saturday leveled fresh allegations over the ongoing Covid incentive row as he said that had the Reserve Bank of India not given strict instruction to the State treasury that it would not make any payment after 11 pm on March 31, 2022, Health Minister Banna Gupta and 59 members of his ministerial cell would have got corona incentive against the norms set by the state government.

A day after Health Minister Banna Gupta pleaded innocence in the Covid incentive scam Rai sought dismissal of the health minister and explained in detail via a press release how the minister’s bid to get Covid incentives for himself and his personal staff was
foiled by the RBI.

The bill for the Covid incentive amount of Health Minister Banna Gupta and other 59 employees of his ministerial cell reached the Government’s Project Building Treasury from the Health Department on 31 March 2022 at 9 PM for payment. The Treasury has approved the payment. This payment went to the computerized PMU (Project Management Unit) of the Finance Department of the Jharkhand Government to send it to the bank account of the minister and other employees, the release said.

Adding further he said that o curb the March robbery, the Reserve Bank of India had given strict instructions that it would not allow any payment after 11 pm and the Reserve Bank closed its server at 11 pm on March 31, 2022. Meanwhile, due to the increase in the burden on the PMU of the Jharkhand government due to the plethora of payable bills coming from all over the state, its server slowed down and the payment of the minister and his personal staff got stuck.

Incentive money could not be transferred from the government treasury to the bank account of Minister Banna Gupta and other employees and it lapsed, the release said.

 Saryu Rai said that Banna Gupta is now saying that he will not make the payment of incentive money on moral grounds. Since the financial year ended on March 31, and the incentive amount sent by the health department to the bank account of the minister and others has lapsed and thus even if Banna Gupta tries, money will not reach their bank accounts.