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| Information Deptt resorting to vendetta to 'crush' Early Times | | Scams unearthed by ET unnerve officials at helm | |  Early Times Report
Jammu, July 7: The state run Information department is following the policy of "vendetta" against the Early Times as your newspaper has been instrumental in highlighting the "misdeeds" of the officials running the department.
The Early Times has been continuously highlighting the "corrupt practices" prevalent in the department and how it has pushed the local media away from the state government. Your newspaper has carried series of stories about what's happening inside the department.
Just ten days ago Early Times had carried a news story about the alleged bungling in the name of modernisation in the Information department. According to the sources, crores of rupees were recently spent to equip the department with advanced technology and manpower in tune with the latest trends and development in the information technology but no required transparency was maintained while making purchases and other works. The department procured equipment worth crores in a clandestine manner. Allegations were galore that "secrecy of financial bids was also violated by some officers at the helm of affairs."
There were allegations that for augmentation of manpower, the department hired the services of various so called professionals in the respective fields. The selection of these `professionals' was allegedly made on pick and choose basis without following any norms.
Sources said that the Information department has been showing huge expenditure on organizing workshops and trainings for the media professionals and students and enhance their skills. "However these mega exercises involving huge expenditure on the name of modernization have virtually not benefitted the working journalists and the media organizations but only helped some officers and officials in the Information department to get their palms greased," they alleged.
An insider said that people handling the Information department were "pampered" by their political bosses during the past three and half years. "People at the helm believe that they are not answerable to anyone and they can spend the money allocated to the department for the government advertisements the way they want. The erstwhile PDP-BJP government had given the charge of the department to senior PDP leader Chaudary Zulfikar but the officials made him dance to their tunes. Zulfikar attaching one of the joint directors in Kashmir had led to the employees of the department going on a strike and he was left with no other option other than to rescind the attachment order," he added.
The insider said that officials of the department are so powerful that they prevailed upon the former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had made her snatch the Information portfolio from Zulfikar. "Despite the imposition of Governor's rule in the state these officials are calling the shots and are running the department according to their whims and fancies. The Governor's administration should order a probe to know what's happening inside the department. The RTIs filed by different persons have revealed the unfair distribution of the government advertisements," he added.
Besides distributing the advertisements in an unfair manner there is a long list of scandals in the Information department. Early Times has highlighted a few scams and in coming days more such scandals would be exposed.
By choking the advertisement flow to Early Times the Information department is playing a "dirty game" to silence your newspaper. The department is resorting to different tactics to intimidate the Early Times and is leaving no stone unturned to target your newspaper but we will not succumb and continue to highlight the wrongs committed by the officials at the helm. |
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