THE report submitted to the state Left Front government on allegations of illegalities committed by the Trinamul Congress-run board of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), has found the municipal authorities guilty on six counts of corruption.

The Trinamul Congress - run board, in its haste to try to capitalise on the automated car-parking scheme that the outgoing Left Front board had mooted as a proposal, has found itself running into a maze of irregular deals.

First, the present board has chosen to provide "soft" (low-interest) loans worth Rs 3 crore to a corporate concern for the construction of the car-park and has gone ahead to provide another 3 crore rupees worth of outright grant.

Second, the matter of time limit on the re-payment of the loan amount has been completely waived.

Third, in a supplementary agreement the corporate concern has been assured in so many words that unless it gets to earn a modicum of profit from the venture, the question of re-payment would not be insisted upon.

Fourth, the proposal was not placed at any of monthly meetings of the KMC council at any point of time. The mayor also went ahead to allocate Rs 3 crore on his own despite the prohibition stated in the latest Municipal Act that he can allocate not more than Rs 50 lakh on his own and that for any amount above that he must necessarily take the approval of the monthly meetings.

Fifth, the present board has released the Rs three crore direct from the grant it receives from the state finance commission, and thus exposing itself to the charge of a serious deviation of funds and misuse thereof. The state government releases this grant to make up for the revenue deficits that the municipal board may get to suffer from while disbursing funds for the strengthening of the infrastructure that takes care of the service sector benefits of the economically handicapped people.

Sixth, the land for the car-park has been handed over to the corporate concern at a premium that is much below the market rates, causing the KMC a great deal of loss.

The state Left Front government in the Municipal Affairs department has asked the KMC to submit the entire car-park proposals and have them approved before taking any further steps.