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| Rs 1.21 cr financial embezzlement surfaces in MC Kishtwar, audit team seizes record | | | Asif Iqbal Naik
Early Times Report
Jammu, Oct 28: A major scandal has been reportedly surfaced in Municipal Committee (MC) Kishtwar with regard to the implementation of Individual House Hold Latrine (IHHL) under Swatch Bharat Abhiyan.
According to reliable information, more than Rs 1.21 crore has been shown withdrawn for the construction of the IHHL @ Rs 17490 per unit construction cost through the NGO Human and Rehabilitation Service (HARS) owned by one Zahoor Ahmed Wani, son of Mohammad Khalil Wani of Kashmir at present Chatroo, but in actual, the money never reached to the beneficiaries and was swindled with the active nexus between the officials of the MC, Kishtwar and the proprietor of the concerned NGO and his accomplice Javed Ahmed Malik who according to the sources has turned out millionaire overnight and often seems purchasing new vehicles including a vehicle that cost around Rs16 lakhs and also constructed a luxurious house in a span of few years from nowhere.
The scandal according to the sources is spread over all the Municipal Committees of Jammu and Kashmir as the contracts were allotted to this Srinagar based NGO proprietary with a nexus involving the officials of the Urban Local Bodies.
As per the details available with "Early Times", the former Executive Officer Municipal Committee Kishtwar namely Sanjay Kumar Sharma signed the agreement with the concerned NGO namely HARS for implementation of the centrally sponsored scheme in violation of the rules and regulations for construction of the IHHL unit i.e. bathrooms, but as a part of well coordinated nexus, the money was first transferred to different accounts from where it was withdrawn on the name of the said NGO while in actual these IHHL units numbering around 700 never had been constructed on ground within any 13 wards of the Municipal Committee Kishtwar.
The sources said that the issue came to fore after the incumbent President Municipal Committee Kishtwar Riaz Ahmed Zarger seeks the details from the officials of the Municipal Committee Kishtwar with regard to the implementation of the scheme and the beneficiaries thereof.
The officials at the helm of the affairs ignored the repeated pleas of the President MC Kishtwar who later took up the matter with the Director Urban Local Bodies Jammu who provided him the details with regard to release of the funds from the Directorate office which ultimately open the lid from the scandal wherein the money meant for the benefits of the poor people living in Kishtwar Municipality was embezzled through official-NGO nexus.
After the matter came to fore, President MC Kishtwar, according to the sources, took up the matter with Director Urban Local Bodies Jammu informing him that the money released by the department for the construction of IHHL units in Kishtwar town had in reality never reached to the beneficiaries and accordingly the audit team of Civil Secretariat from the Urban Local Bodies Department rushed to Kishtwar and seized all the relevant documents pertaining to the scandal.
The sources said that the scandal runs into several crores and called upon the government to order CBI probe into this issue as after establishment of the Union Territory, CBI can directly probe this scandal involving the funds by the Government of India for the welfare of the people, that instead of reaching to the pockets of common men, is being swindled by NGO-MC official nexuses.
The ward members of the Municipal Kishtwar told the "Early Times" that the scandal dated back to few years ago before the incumbent Municipal Committee Kishtwar came into existence after the elections last year and demanded full fledged audit and Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) inquiry of various government schemes that were executed in Kishtwar town during the last 10-15 years so that more scandals that took place in the Committee could be unearthed so that the guilty officials could be punished.
Despite repeated attempts, Director Urban Local Bodies Jammu and President MC Kishtwar could not be reached out for comment. |
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