KL Report
SRINAGAR
Vigilance Organization Kashmir (VOK) has registered two cases against the officials of Agriculture and Rural Development Department for their alleged involvement in fraud and bungling in government projects.
VOK statement reads that two separate verifications conducted by the Organization into the allegations that heavy bungling have been committed in the allotment of works and subsequent construction of water harvesting tanks and other units under soil conservation scheme by the officers and officials of Agriculture Department, Kulgam during the year 2009-2010.
“Then Assistant soil conservation officer Kulgam Ghulam Hassan Bhat in connivance with Mehraj-ud-Din Bhat, then Chief Agriculture officer Kulgam Mehraj-ud-Din Darzi, Soil Conservation Assistant and Ghulam Hassan Shah, Field Assistant in league and active connivance with contractor namely Farooq Ahmad Tantary son of Ghulam Qadir of Waltengo Kulgam on the basis of resolution allotted the construction work of two Water Harvesting tanks to the said contractor at the cost of Rs. 11.28 lacs and 4.78 lacs respectively,” the statement said.
The statement read that the accused public servants being non-technical prepared estimates and conducted test check of works and also deliberately did not choose to refer the matter to Executing Agency, despite the fact that the public servants had no financial authority to get these works executed: “During verification, spot inspection and perusal of documents revealed that the public servants in order to bestow undue pecuniary advantage upon the contractor have released excess payment in respect of above referred works of Rs. 1,32,265/- on account of inflated X-Section i.e. width and heights and an amount of Rs. 1,48,187/- on account of inflated measurement against actual and existing measurement on spot. The intentional and deliberate act on the part of public servants have thus put state exchequer to wrongful loss of Rs. 2,80,452/- with corresponding wrongful gain to contractor and Public servants.”
The second verification was conducted into the allegations that the officers/officials of RDD Block Baghat-i-Kanipora have misappropriated Government money and adopted corrupt practices in construction of a number of Latrine Points in Halqa Dooniwari, revealed that during the year 2012-2013 officers and officials of RDD Block B.K.pora had selected 93 beneficiaries for construction of individual household latrine points (IHHL). “The cost for each latrine point was fixed as Rs. 10,500 which include beneficiary share of Rs. 900, share to be paid out of TSC Rs. 5100 and share to be paid out of MGNREGA Rs. 4500. All the beneficiaries were paid the 1st installment of Rs. 5100 out of TSC total amounting to Rs. 4,74,300. During spot inspection randomly selected 37 beneficiaries of TSC, 13 Latrine Points were found non-existent. In furtherance of criminal conspiracy hatched by Mrs Shireen Sofi then BDO B.K.Pora, Tanver Ahmad Dar, AE Sub Division B.K.Pora, Siddarth Bhat JE Sub Division B.K.Pora, Tariq Ahmad Sheikh Technical Assistant to MGNREGA in BDO office, Reyaz Ahmad Mir MPW, Shri Gh. Mohi-ud-din Misger, Sarpanch among themselves and others have dishonestly and fraudulently shown construction of 13 latrine points which were found non-existent during spot inspection, out of inspected 37 such latrine points and thereby having misappropriated an amount of Rs. 66,300/- with a corresponding loss to the State exchequer,” the statement read. Further investigations into the cases have been taken up.
