Can those at the helm of affairs afford to turn a blind eye to the findings of the “Fact Finding Committee ” in respect of the major scams in Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation Limited (JKPCCL)? Why are not those found explicitly involved in perpetrating the loot by throwing to winds and showing not scant regard for set procedures, booked by filing FIRs against them so that legal penal action could be initiated against them? These malefactors are reported to have left no chance, no means and no opportunity in plundering the resources of the JKPCCL, the same organisation providing livelihood to them in respect of being employed to serve . We learn that clear cut instructions from the Government about proceeding against the guilty given several months ago, continue to be tossed and chucked hence disregarded totally for reasons not known.
It is a general feeling of a few people that seeking and getting employment in a Government Department and especially where activities like in the one under reference, were “lucrative” in nature was a means to amass wealth by resorting to unfair means and possibly get away with it. By delaying a swift action against the ‘scamesters’ was buttressing their such flawed and absolutely silly notion. After all, brazen corruption in contracts, illegality in appointments at various levels, excessive cost, overruns and other malpractices were routinely indulged in about which the Government had a proper feedback which resulted in constituting of a “Fact Finding Committee” headed by Principal Secretary Planning and other bureaucrats to probe and pinpoint the responsibility and fix accountability exactly more than a year back.
The said Committee has submitted its detailed report with startling revelations and among various gross irregularities, it has found how contracts were awarded on nomination basis , how transparency in tendering process was cared not given two hoots for, how funds were diverted from one project to the other, how completion of projects was deliberately aborted, how mismanagement and underhand means were let loose resulting in many incomplete projects to be there. Not only this, the very basis of appointment of the Managing Director is questioned on facts, how performance and efficiency in functioning became casualties, how huge time and cost overruns on comparative basis both on projections and other similar projects depicted huge variation and escalation. In short , we have learnt that there were certain findings which were of alarming nature and cause of serious concern. We fail to understand that instead of by now the guilty officials having been in jails for months together , even an FIR is not registered. How can like this casual and reckless approach, the scourge of corruption be stopped? It should be borne in mind that in an era of transparency and guaranteed right to information , people are watching all this legitimising of this type of loot going on with impunity in Government departments and Government run PSUs.
In addition to the above episodic violation of rules and regulations, the Fact Finding Committee must have pointed out whether a routine audit exercise of the accounts, inventory and other assets , adhering to norms and procedures, obtaining reports and sanctions from professionals and higher authorities respectively and periodically was going on in the corruption bugged Corporation or not . Whether annual accounts finalisation and submitting financial statements to the concerned authorities were audited and certified and whether more than one agency was involved to ascertain their veracity. Had there been the culture of routine and periodic audits and inspections, and treating the audit reports as most important in the Government departments and other related agencies, much of the problem of plundering would have been prevented and stopped. We eagerly are awaiting for immediately booking of the culprits by initiating legal proceedings against them.
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