VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, May 7: The action of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Mining Secretary Pooja Singhal has brought embarrassment to the Jharkhand BJP crying hoarse over corruption and Raghubar Das who claims to have given a clean and honest government in Jharkhand.
The ED carried out raids against the lady IAS officer to probe her role in the MNREGA scam in Khunti district. It was the Raghubar Das government that gave a clean chit to her in the MNREGA scam in Khunti and Chatra districts. Raghubar Das had appointed her as Agriculture secretary.
According to documents, the department of personnel and administrative reforms framed charges against her on March 13, 2014, under Articles of Charges Imputation of Misconduct and Misbehaviour. As many as six charges were framed against her including misuse of office, giving patronage to engineer Ram Binod Prasad Sinha, and giving sanction to fake works among others. Hemant Soren was the chief minister during that period.
On March 29, 2016, the then principal secretary of drinking water and sanitation Amrendra Pratap Singh was directed to conduct an inquiry into the matter. He gave a clean chit to Pooja Singhal. Raghubar Das was the chief minister during that period.
She was the deputy commissioner of Khunti and district programme coordinator of the MNREGA from February 2009 till July 2010 when the scam worth Rs 18.06 Crore took place. 16 FIRs were lodged at different police stations in Khunti in 2010 against Junior Engineer Ram Binod Prasad Sinha and others for committing scams in MNREGA and other development projects.
Her role was never investigated, the probe was prevented, and she was even given a clean chit in departmental inquiry. It is despite the fact that Ram Binod Sinha accepted that he used to pay 5 percent of the project cost as commission to his senior on 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. He confirmed Pooja Singhal was the DC of Khunti during that period.
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 Reforms on the charges framed against Pooja Singhal by the department for violating rules in the execution of MNREGA and other schemes. Arjun Munda was the chief minister and his deputy Sudesh Mahto was the rural development minister who ordered all cases to be investigated by the Vigilance Bureau. Surprisingly, the order of the chief minister and his deputy was chucked in the bin.
Scam in MNREGA scheme in Chatra
The MNREGA scam in Chatra was hushed up in the same manner. Amrendra Pratap Singh gave a clean chit to her after an inquiry. 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.