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| PHE Minister Sham Lal to act tough against corrupt, probe likely to be ordered soon | | Scam worth crores in Kathua, Reasi, Rajouri divisions | |
Syed Junaid Hashmi
JAMMU, Jan 30: If the manner which Minister for PHE and Irrigation Sham Lal Sharma has tightened noose around the delinquent officers is any indication, a thorough probe into allegations of scams worth crores of rupees in PHE divisions of Rajouri, Reasi, Kathua and Samba during the last 16 years is likely to be ordered soon.
Sources said that an umbrage of complaints have reached the office of PHE Minister with people seeking a thorough probe into the alleged wrongs committed by officials at various positions during their postings in these three divisions. They maintained that copies of complaints which renowned social worker of Samba Late Hoshiar Singh had made during his lifetime have also forwarded to the new PHE Minister.
According to sources, the mess had become public after certain RTI crusaders got the documentary evidence of scam worth crores of rupees in both Kathua and Samba divisions of Jammu district. Pain of these RTI crusaders had multiplied after they found government wanting over action into the allegations. With Sham Lal talking over, they maintain that a probe would unveil reality behind allegations.
Ex-Minister for PHE Taj Mohi-ud-Din desisted from taking action on the grounds that he was not the Minister when scam allegedly took place. He did promise an inquiry months ago but never ordered it. Instead, all those officials whose names have surfaced are enjoying prize postings in various divisions of PHE Jammu.
Early Times is in possession of official documents which give a insight into how the accused have managed repeated transfers and postings in the same divisions during the last 20 years. A multi-crore scam was brought forth by elected representatives of Rajouri district during a meeting of District Development Board (DDB) in the year 2006. They had alleged that officials of PHE department had embezzled funds meant for various schemes. They had further alleged that 'whosoever was posted in Rajouri district became rich overnight; built palatial houses both in their native town as well as in twin capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu'.
They had urged the then Chief Minister to initiate time bound inquiry and ensure that guilty are booked and put behind the bars. Taking cognizance of the allegations, the then Chief Minister had sought detailed report of the works executed during the last 15 years (1990-2005) and list of the officials who served in this division during this period but to date, nothing has appeared in black and white.
In another case, Public Health and Engineering (PHE) department allegedly allotted more than 100 works worth Rs. 25 crore to private parties in Samba without floating tenders during the year 2004-05. The list of works, a copy of which lies with Early Times clearly maintains that the works were carried out without tenders owing to "political and official intervention of higher-ups."
These works, as per the records, have been allotted allegedly during the tenure of Ex-Chief Engineer I.R.Shahmiri citing demand from the local public, pressure created by MLAs besides urgent nature of the works. Another scam worth more than Rs. 45 crores surfaced in the Samba division of Public Health and Engineering (PHE) Department.
The scam surfaced in year 2008 when the then IDP General Secretary Late Hoshiar Singh lodged a written complaint with committee on estimates of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly during their maiden visit to Samba. He had even briefed the committee about the manner in which efforts were being made to silence him.
There are also allegations of illegal promotions which have been found true by State Vigilance Organization (SVO) during its investigation. They have dispatched the letter to the Commissioner Secretary GAD urging him to undo the wrong done.
An RTI crusader recently brought to light the scam involving appointment of 644 workers engaged on certificates issued by shopkeepers and non-existent institutes. Early Times is in possession of the records which clearly show that fake and fudged ITI certificates have been accepted while engaging casual and time-bound workers in PHE division Kathua and Samba. A number of candidates among these have been engaged on the certificates issued by shopkeepers.
PHE division Kathua has claimed to have spent more than Rs. 9.69 lakh rupees on the winding of motors in Block Ghagwal of Hiranagar sub-division from 2000 to March 2012. Of the 20 firms engaged by PHE sub-division Samba, only two exist on ground while 18 other firms are non-existent and have been shown in the records merely for withdrawing the repair money. Probe is nowhere in sight. |
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