VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, Nov 24: As the Managing Director of Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corporation (JSMDC), Jharkhand cadre IAS officer Pooja Singhal had allegedly allotted sand mining rights to her favourite contractors contrary to the guidelines of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).
The JSMDC allotted at least two sand mines Pachadumar and Sundipur to contractors following a discussion only. But insiders of the mining department claimed that mining rights of many other sand mining sites were allotted in similar fashion. Even the regime of previous mining secretary and JSMDC boss K. Srinivasan remained controversial.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested her in May this year in the MNREGA scam case, and filed a prosecution complaint. The agency is also going to prosecute her in the illegal stone mining scam of Jharkhand worth Rs. 1000 crore. In the report submitted to the state government, the ED has claimed that Pooja Singhal as the mining department secretary had patronized illegal stone mining and received heists through her chartered accountant Suman Kumar Singh.
Pachadumar and Sundipur sand mines allotted to respective contractors without tender process
The JSMDC being a public undertaking is governed by CVC rules which state that a public undertaking would grant the contract through competitive biddings. But going against the rule, in 2021, two sand mines namely Pachadumar and Sundipur — both in Garhwa district — were allotted to contractor Nand Kishore Singh and Atmanand Upadhyaya. Relevant documents suggest that the mining rights were awarded based on discussion. No tender/ expression of interest was floated by the JSMDC for this purpose which controls all sand mining sites in Jharkhand.
Pachadumar sand mining right granted under violation of environmental law
Pachadumar sand mine is a very interesting case from the environmental point of view too. This mining site is situated about 900 meters away from the wildlife sanctuary in Kaimur in Bihar. As per the Supreme Court order, no mining can be conducted within one km periphery of wildlife sanctuary. Pachadumar has the finest quality of sand and it is located at a strategic location that can capture the market in Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Another interesting fact is that Pachadumar sand mine was previously allotted to one Pramod Prasad. It is stated that he got the mining right after a formal discussion with the JSMDC. But he was summarily kicked out under mysterious circumstances. It had kicked off a controversy in the JSMDC and among the contractors.
Role of Ashok Kumar under scanner
Notably, Pooja Singhal deputed a contractual staff member, Ashok Kumar, as the divisional officer of the sand project for Palamu division and he used to pass such orders of awarding mining rights to such contractors. She is accused of having given patronage to Ashok Kumar despite him being charged with corruption and an FIR was lodged against him. Ashok Kumar was initially appointed on a contract basis to the post of Project Officer of Garhwa district of JSMDC. He was promoted as a Sand-in charge-cum-Coal-in charge cum Establishment officer. It is despite the fact that his appointment was purely on a temporary basis and his contract lapsed in 2017. The JSMDC is a public sector company and a contractual employee cannot be inducted into the permanent post and get promoted although his service itself is contractual.
Ashok Kumar was booked under sections 420, 379 and 411 of IPC and section 54 of JMMC Rule in Ketar PS Case No. 04/2019 in Garhwa district. The FIR was registered as he was allegedly involved in forging a single used challan multiple times. But despite that, he was promoted and given important responsibilities.
Pooja Singhal as mining secretary and JSMDC managing director was a conflict of interest
The JSMDC is a public undertaking under the control of the mining department. Mining secretary is vested with the power to supervise the JSMDC managing director and take disciplinary action in case of any irregularity. But in this case the mining secretary and managing director are the same person hence there was no question of reviewing the order of the managing director by the mining secretary.
The official records suggest that there are 358 sand ghats in Jharkhand notified as category II where sand mining is permitted. These districts include Bokaro (22), Chatra (28), Deoghar (15), Dhanbad (14), Dumka (29), East Singhbhum (7), Garhwa (12), Giridih (18), Godda (20), Gumla (17), Hazaribagh (16), Jamtara (17), Khunti (18), Koderma (8), Latehar (9), Lohardaga (8), Pakur (7), Palamu (15), Ramgarh (2), Ranchi (17), Sahibganj (6), Saraikela-Kharsawan (26), Simdega (16)and West Singhbhum (11).
