news details |
|
|
| Contractor-Officer mafia looting public exchequer in PHE | | | Avinash Azad
Jammu, Feb 12: Outsourcing culture in Public Health Department (PHE) is taking huge toll on public exchequer, as the department has been hiring private machinery to dig tube wells.
Authoritative sources informed Early Times that department is paying about Rs. 35 crore to private owners every year instead of purchasing its own Rig machines. But on the contrary departmental infrastructure is depleting with each passing day and increasing its dependency on private players.
Ground water division of Public Health Engineering Department has to dig up around 150 tube wells annually in Jammu division alone, for the purpose department has 14 deep driller rig machines which are also old and have very low efficiency.
Reliable sources in the department maintained that many higher officials including engineers have their own private rig machines and the money doled out to private players ultimately gores into their pockets. They also added that private contractors have a strong nexus with these officials. Good amount of money changes many hands when tenders for digging the wells are allotted in favour of contractors.
Officials of Ground Water Division maintained that the cost of digging of one tube well is around Rs. 25 Lakhs. Departmental machines dig maximum one tube well in a year. Out of total of 150 tub wells, 14 tube wells are being dug by departmental machines and remaining 136 tube well are being dug by private players which costs Rs. 34 crores every year.
Sources in Ground Water Division including workers of the rig machines maintained that essential spares and operational items including diesel, electrical appliances and other equipments were not supplied at appropriate time resulting in low efficiency of the departmental rig machines. Departmental rig machines, purchased way back in 1970 are also old enough and no fresh purchases were made thereafter.
The lower rung officials have demanded probe into the assets of higher officials and also demand purchase of new machinery so that crores of public money can be saved besides increasing the departmental assets. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
