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| Corrupt practices continue unchecked | | | About 1500 casual workers, working in the Irrigation Department, were left with no other option but to stage a demonstration in protest against meagre wages paid to them. For having worked for nine months they were paid wages for three months and when their plea for justice went unheeded they staged a protest demonstration. It is not something unprecedented or new as far as Jammu and Kashmir state is concerned. Officials of those departments who are engaged in implementing several development projects tamper with the muster rolls.Against the actual number of labourers engaged the muster rolls show a higher number facilitating the officials to misappropriate Government funds to their advantage and benefits.Invariably figures regarding expenses are either cooked or fudged which usually is cause for delay in the execution of development projects.
Since repair and maintenance of projects,power transmission lines and transformers besids roads,drains do not require sanction from the top authorities officials spend more than the allotted funds on repair and maint enance.Here also expenses on repair and maintenance are inflated.There are several other forms being adopted by the executing agencies for misappropriating Government funds.It is pure loot in several departments.Besides showing completion of works on paper only construction material and supply of other accessories are procured at exhorbitant rates.These rates are usually 15 to 30 per cent higher than the market prices.Whether Jammu and Kashmir state is at number two in the list of corrupt states or not it is one among a few Indian states where even the bridges are built only on paper.It is one rare state where the utilisation of funds,earmarked for centrally sponsored schemes,is fudged. It is one rare state where the executing agencies fail to submit the utilisation reports on time to the centre.It is so because there is a big gap between actual execution of the projects and the manufactured utilisation report.
Whatever ommissions and commisions do take place in the implementation of development projects it is basically the result of lack of supervision by the higher authorities.The tragic part of the story is that it is very difficult to find senior officials whose integrity and honesty are indisputable.Since there is no proper agency that can monitor the pace of progress in the execution of the development projects,use of substandard construction material,cooked up muster rolls and actual implementation of the projects as per the plan the chances for corrupt pratices are bound to multiply.In various cases contractors are allowed to delay completion of projects simply to revise the estimated costs which are shared between the two.Those who doubt such generalisations need to refer to annual reports from Comptroller and Auditor General(CAG) of India.The CAG reports have,year after year,questioned the work style,ommissions,loot and they reflect the size of swindling of Government funds.The most unfortunate thing is that senior Government functionaries have not found time to read carefully the CAG reports which is evident by the way they remain silent over growing malpractices and corrupt activities. |
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