The State government of Karnataka has formed an inquiry committee to probe the observations made by the Principal Accountant General in the Compliance Audit of Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd. (KEONICS) for the period 2018-19 to 2022-23. The committee, led by retired IAS officer S.D. Meena, will investigate the transactions and procurements of goods by KEONICS during the said period.

The committee, as per the government order, will include one financial expert (retd. SAAD official) and one technical expert to assist in conducting the audit. The Principal Accountant General audit team has submitted 45 audit enquiries on the transactions and procurements of goods by KEONICS. The proposal from the Managing Director of KEONICS has been examined.

The major findings of the Principal Accountant General audit team indicate several lacunae and gaps in KEONICS’ operations. These include the lack of clearly brought out technical specifications in the products, absence of due certifications of persons inspecting the goods for third-party inspection, delivery challans lacking proper seal/date or seal of recipient organization, and non-conformity of the process of empanelment and selection of vendors for the supply of goods to various departments and organizations with the standard tender document prescribed by the Finance Department.

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