VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, May 11: The investigation of the MNREGA scam in Khunti district by the Enforcement Directorate has opened a can of worms for other bureaucrats whose tenure witnessed a similar scam in MNREGA as it happened in Khunti during the tenure of IAS Pooja Singhal.
A scam had taken place in West Singhbhum district when 2005 cadre IAS K Srinivasan served as DC from May 7, 2010, till April 27, 2013. As many as 14 FIRs were lodged against several engineers at different police stations in West Singhbhum. In 2015, these cases were transferred to the Vigilance Bureau. But to date, the investigation has not been done in a proper manner. No investigation was ever carried out to fix the accountability of the DC who also happens to be the district programme coordinator of the MNREGA.
Under the MNREGA rule, the DC also serves as the district programme coordinator of the MNREGA and the DC is entirely responsible for any omission and commission. In the case of Pooja Singhal, a powerful lobby in the bureaucracy prevented a probe against her and she was also given a clean chit in 2017. Even the cases related to MNREGA were not transferred to the Vigilance Bureau.
In the case of Khunti, Arun Kumar Dubey was the person who filed a petition before the Jharkhand High Court to seek a probe against Pooja Singhal. He alleged the state probe agency did not investigate the alleged connivance of Pooja Singhal with the accused persons.
But for Kolhan-based social activist Matlub Alam, the fight against corruption is still going on. Matlub Alam was political assistant of the then Congress MP from Chaibasa Bagun Sumbrai.
“Bagun Sumbrai was the first to raise his voice against corruption in MNREGA in West Singhbhum and he made several correspondences with the government. He died without getting justice. Now I am fighting,” said Matlub Alam who filed a fresh writ petition at Jharkhand High Court last year.
Khunti and West Singhbhum have a striking similarity in the modus operandi of the scam. Pooja Singhal as DC gave advance in crores to a junior engineer Ram Binod Sinha and never bothered to ensure proper utilization of the amount.
“Likewise, Srinivasan who officiated as a Deputy Commissioner for the longest period advanced crores of rupees, not less than Rs 28 crores, to various Executive Engineers and junior engineers directly and in that although crores of rupees in advance were already there with the junior engineers without being adjusted. The acts and rules of the Jharkhand government indicate that an officer who has already taken advance may not be allowed to be given further advance to him for the other civil works,” he said.
He said that many years back a petition was filed in the Jharkhand High Court for a proper investigation of the scam. “That time the Vigilance Bureau had assured a proper investigation but nothing happened,” he said.
