VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, Feb. 28: Some powerful hands in the bureaucracy apparently prevented vigilance probes against the then Deputy Commissioner of Khunti, Pooja Singhal, in MNREGA and other projects’ scam in Khunti district despite order of then chief minister Arjun Munda and the Rural Development minister Sudesh Mahto.
Documents reveal Arjun Munda and Sudesh Mahto had given the order to the Cabinet (vigilance) to probe all the cases related to the scam worth Rs 18.06 Crore. Pooja Singhal had served as the deputy commissioner of Khunti and district programme coordinator of the MNREGA from February 2009 till July 2010.
16 FIRs were lodged at different police stations in Khunti in 2010 against Junior Engineer Ram Binod Prasad Sinha and others for committing scams.
Correspondence between Rural Development to Personnel department reveals CM and Dy CM had ordered probe
The then principal secretary of the Rural Development Department Radhe Shyam Poddar had written a letter to the principal secretary of the Department of Personnel & Administrative Reform on December 17, 2011. The Rural Development Department had sought an opinion from the Department of Personnel & Administrative Reform on the charges framed against Pooja Singhal by the department for violating rules in the execution of MNREGA and other schemes.
“The Honourable Deputy Chief Minister (Rural Development) and Chief Minister have ordered an inquiry by the Cabinet (Vigilance) against the then Deputy Commissioner and district programme coordinator of MNREGA in Khunti and other senior officials. This matter is related to serious financial anomalies in the execution of MNREGA and other schemes in Khunti district where huge amounts were sanctioned to a single Junior Engineer (Ram Binod Prasad Sinha) and amounts remained unadjusted. The Principal Secretary (Vigilance) has already been provided with the necessary documents along with the request. Besides, FIRs were lodged in Khunti and Arki police station,” the letter states having Letter No. 4-20203/Aarop/2009/7462/17-12-2011.
But surprisingly only two cases were handed over to the Vigilance Bureau namely Khunti P.S case No.- 99/10 and 100/10 dated 24 September 2010. It is not surprising that both cases are not related to the MNREGA scam. The Vigilance Bureau is now known as the Anti-Corruption Bureau which investigates cases of corruption involving government officials and employees.
Who overrode CM’s decision or was CM kept in dark or the probe order amended?
The letter clearly mentions that the CM and the Deputy CM had ordered a probe by the Cabinet (Vigilance). It is still a mystery why the ACB took only two cases and that too was not related to MNREGA. It is intriguing that ACB was kept away from the investigation of even one of the biggest cases of the MNREGA scam in Khunti (FIR 97/10 dated September 18, 2010) where the total embezzled amount is Rs 10.16 Crore. Pooja Singhal was apparently given a clean chit in the department inquiry but even a decade later it is still unanswered how CM’s order was ignored and junked.
An official who had served in Khunti district said that only two cases were taken over the ACB. “I remember Patanjali Ranjan Mishra was posted as the DSP (Headquarters) in Khunti who had investigated these cases. As far as I remember ACB took over two cases and the rest of the cases Khunti police had investigated under the supervision of ACB,” the official recollected.
ACB affidavit to Jharkhand High Court claims it investigated two cases only
The ghost of the MNREGA and other scams still haunts Pooja Singhal who served as the deputy commissioner of Khunti and district programme coordinator of the MNREGA from February 2009 till July 2010.
A Public Interest Litigation was filed by one Arun Kumar Dubey at Jharkhand High Court where the petitioner alleged the probe agencies shielded Singhal in the investigation of the MNREGA and other scams. Dubey demanded the court to give a necessary direction to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and ACB whether the investigation was ever carried out against her.
The petitioner said that under section 23 of the manual of the MNREGA the district programme coordinator is mandated to ensure accountability and transparency in the MNREGA schemes. On this, the court had directed ACB and Enforcement Directorate to file its reply whether or not the role of the then Khunti DC was investigated. The ED informed the court that investigations were going on against the lady IAS officer.
But the ACB informed the Jharkhand High Court that it was not “given any case for the investigation related to the MNREGA scam in Khunti” hence no question arises to investigate the role of Pooja Singhal. It is very surprising that the ACB, dubbed as an agency highly specialized in investigating financial crime and corruption, was asked to investigate peanuts.
The ACB affidavit states that the Cabinet (Vigilance) department handed it only two FIRs against Ram Binod Prasad Sinha and others. Sinha posted as the junior engineer at the Khunti District Board was the main accused of the MNREGA and other scams. Besides, Sinha allegedly committed scams in other developmental projects.
The ACB said that the defalcated money of these schemes which were given to the ACB for investigation was not related to the MNREGA scheme. It said that the first case was related to two separate projects of building Revenue Court office and Revenue Block office where an amount worth Rs 30. 50 lakh was embezzled.
The second case is related to the development of basic infrastructure for police recruitment at Khunti district where an amount worth Rs. 78.73 lakh was embezzled in the process.
Tandem of Pooja Singhal and Ram Binod Prasad Sinha under question
The findings of the ED submitted to Jharkhand High Court doesn’t hold a nice opinion about the conduct of Pooja Singhal.
The affidavit reveals that the main accused, Ram Binod Prasad Sinha posted as Junior Engineer (JE) in Khunti District Board, enjoyed undue favour and patronage from the DC and he used to pay cuts and commissions to the DC office.
Referring to the statement of Sinha, the ED said that he used to pay 5 percent of the project cost as commission to his senior in the engineering side and an additional 5 percent of the project cost as a commission towards the administration side consisting of DC Office and DDA/NDC office.
Sinha told the ED that the commission amount was distributed in the DC office as per the involvement of concerned persons to sanction the project respectively.
The affidavit indicates the possibility of certain connivance to allow the embezzlement of the public money for MNREGA schemes. Sinha, despite being suspended by the Rural Development Department from September 11, 2006, till May 17, 2010, kept working in Khunti under Special Division as well as District Board.
He was relieved from the post of Junior Engineer from Special Division, Rural Works Department, for his parent cadre in the Water Resource Department on October 10, 2009, after his suspension was revoked. It automatically ended his deputation tenure as Junior Engineer in the District Board.
“Sinha was given heavy advances for several construction projects. During the tenure of Pooja Singhal as DC no action was initiated against accused Sinha, neither to stop further payment of advances to him nor to recover the amount of advances already granted to him. And even after his relieving no steps were taken by the District Administration to recover the advances already given to him or to force him to give charge to any other,” the ED has said.
