VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, May 6: 2000 batch IAS Pooja Singhal whose premises the Enforcement Directorate raided across the country in connection with illegal mining and other cases of scam is among the bureaucrats of Jharkhand who wields considerable influence in the power corridor of Jharkhand.
Irrespective of which party rules and who is the chief minister, Pooja Singhal is known for winning the confidence and proximity of top political and bureaucratic bosses. That’s why throughout her tenure she has enjoyed prime and plum posting even if the Enforcement Directorate is investigating a couple of complaints against her. She is currently the secretary of the mining department as well as the industry department. She holds additional charge as the director of Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corporation Ltd.
She served as secretary of the agriculture department during the BJP regime of Raghubar Das and she alongwith Chief Secretary Rajbala Verma was among the trusted bureaucrats of Raghubar Das. She had also been actively associated with organising the Momentum Jharkhand, held by the Raghubar Government to lure industrialists in 2017. The industrial summit later came under the scanner of the Jharkhand High Court as well as the Anti-Corruption Bureau for various irregularities.
So powerful she has been — the bureaucratic circle whispers — that an IAS officer who is eight years senior to her was transferred from a department since she was apparently not feeling comfortable due to the presence of that IAS in the said department. With loads of PILs at the Jharkhand High Court naming her, Pooja Singhal has been at the centre stage of bureaucracy.
When Hemant Soren took over the charge, she was posted as Secretary of both the mining and industries department, headed by the chief minister. She is also chairman of the Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corporation (JSMDC).
MNREGA Scam in Khunti
She was the DC of Khunti when a massive scam worth over Rs 18.16 Crore took place in MNREGA and other projects where the kingpin was a Junior Engineer Ram Binod Prasad Sinha. A total of 16 FIRs were lodged against him and others. Pooja Singhal as the deputy commissioner of Khunti and district programme coordinator of the MNREGA served from February 2009 till July 2010. Under section 23 of the manual of the MNREGA the district programme coordinator is mandated to ensure accountability and transparency in the MNREGA schemes.
A PIL was filed by one Arun Kumar Dubey where he alleged the probe agencies shielded Singhal in the investigation of the MNREGA scam. On this, the court directed the ACB and the Enforcement Directorate to file their reply on whether or not the role of the then Khunti DC was investigated. The ACB said 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 the then Khunti Deputy Commissioner Pooja Singhal. The ACB claimed that the Cabinet (Vigilance) department handed it only two FIRs against Ram Binod Prasad Sinha and others namely Khunti P.S case No.- 99/10 and 100/10 dated 24 September 2010. And these were not related to the MNREGA scheme.
It has been lately discovered that the then Chief Minister Arjun Munda and deputy CM Sudesh Mahato had given the order to the Cabinet (vigilance) to probe all the cases related to the scam.
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,” the official records state.
It is still a mystery who overturned the decision of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister. And a few years later after a departmental inquiry, she was given a clean chit.
MNREGA scheme of Chatra another doubtful case of scam
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also holding an inquiry into an alleged scam in the MNREGA project in Chatra. She was Deputy Commissioner of Chatra district from August 2007 till June 2008. There was an allegation that she gave Rs 6 Crore as an advance to two NGOs for the execution of work under MGNREGA.
The then CPI (ML) legislator Binod Singh had raised the issue during the assembly session in May 2012. The then deputy CM Sudesh Mahto had ordered a probe by the principal secretary of the rural development department.
It was alleged that she had issued an advance of Rs 4 crore and Rs 2 crore to Welfare Point and Prerna Niketan. The grant was made for the cultivation of musli. The NGOs were given advance payment in 2008, but they did not complete the work and even beneficiaries were not given their wages. In this case, she was also given a clean chit in departmental inquiry.
Kathautia mines
The ED is also investigating the alleged transfer of around 83 acres of forest land to Usha Martin, a private company, for mining at the Kathautia Coal Mining project in Palamu district when she was the DC there. The mines spread across Kathautia, Kajri, Garikhas, Sika, Palhekhurd, Sakhui and Batsara villages in Daltonganj tehsil, were allocated to Usha Martin Limited in 2003. The then Palamu Commissioner N K Mishra had indicted her for various bunglings in mining by the company in his report to the State Government, which, however, did not take any action. Later, a PIL was also filed in the Supreme Court, which is due for a hearing soon.
