The Hindu Business Line : Pvt auditor for seamen PF

THE Board of Trustees of Seamen's Provident Fund (SPF) has decided to appoint a private audit firm to undertake internal audit of the fund. The move follows the Rs 100-crore loss suffered by SPF in gilts trading.

The board has also decided that henceforth all investment decisions will be taken only by the board of trustees, thereby effectively stripping the SPF Commissioner of his powers.

The board at its meeting on Friday decided to appoint an auditor for concurrent auditing of the fund, said Mr D.T. Joseph, Director-General of Shipping who is also the chairman of SPF.

Hitherto auditing of SPF was done by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India. The SPF commissioner alone took decision on investments of funds and he was the single authorised signatory to all transactions. The board has now decided that trustees will meet every three months as against twice a year now and all investment decisions would be taken by them. It was also decided that all cheques would have to be signed by two authorised signatories.

Mr Joseph said no seafarer would lose his money. The fund will meet all demands of seafarers allowed under the scheme. The fund has Rs 334 crore with Reserve Bank of India under a special deposit scheme. The board will also do everything possible to recover the reported shortage, he said.

Mr Naresh Salecha, senior Deputy Director-General of Shipping, took additional charge of SPF on Friday, said the board, which also has representatives from unions, has assured seamen that their money will be safe.

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Pvt auditor for seamen PF