Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Oct 10: Sending a strong message to the officers, who shield ‘corrupt’ subordinates, the State Government has initiated departmental enquiry against Assistant Commissioner Development (ACD) Kathua for his failure to take action against a Junior Engineer, who had inflated the estimates of the developmental works in order to obtain ‘undue benefit’.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that for the construction of lanes and drains in Barnoti block of Kathua district, the Rural Engineering Wing (REW) prepared two separate estimates to the tune of Rs 1 lakh and Rs 78,000 respectively. However, MLA Kathua, Charanjeet Singh noticed the estimates much more than the actual cost involved in the construction of lanes and drains.
Accordingly, he brought the matter to the notice of District Development Commissioner, Kathua Zahida Khan and sought review of the estimates by the senior officers of the R&B (PWD) Department. As the issue was serious one, the DDC immediately deputed PWD team for re-estimation of the proposed works, sources said.
During re-estimation, the actual cost of the works, which were projected to be completed at a cost of Rs one lakh, turned out to be Rs 19,000 only. Similarly, the actual value of the works projected to be completed at a cost of Rs 78,000 was found to be Rs 36,000 only, sources disclosed, adding based on the outcome of re-estimation the District Development Commissioner withdrew the excess amount.
As MLA expressed serious concern over the inflated estimates and wanted punishment for erring official(s), the DDC wrote to the Assistant Commissioner Development, Pawan Kumar asking him to take action against the engineer(s), who inflated the estimates to obtain undue benefit. However, the ACD remain slept over the matter for several months despite reminders from the MLA. This prompted the legislator to formally write to the Chief Secretary, Madhav Lal seeking his intervention, sources said.
When Chief Secretary sought to know the reason behind delay in action against official(s) involved in preparation of estimates beyond the actual cost of the work, the ACD informed that since Junior Engineer (JE) of Rural Engineering Wing Surinder Singh, who was the main ‘accused’ behind inflating the estimates, has got transferred to R S Pura from Kathua he could not take action against him.
“As this is no plausible reason behind the inaction on the part of ACD, the General Administration Department has given approval for departmental enquiry against the ACD for not acting despite specific incidence of corruption pointed out by MLA”, sources informed, adding “a chargesheet under Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services Rules (CSR) has been served to the ACD asking him to explain within a period of 21 days as to why penalty is not imposed against him for lack of devotion towards duty, dereliction of duty and lack of supervision”.
The General Administration Department has also asked the Director, Rural Development Department, Jammu to take action against erring Junior Engineer, sources further said, adding action against Assistant Commissioner Development would be taken only after he furnishes reply to the chargesheet.
“By taking serious note of this incident, the Government has send a loud and clear message to those officers, who shield their subordinates despite being aware of their involvement in the corrupt practices and mal-administration, that this act on their part would not be tolerated”, sources said while disclosing that Chief Secretary, Madhav Lal has been regularly reviewing the departmental inquiries to ensure their completion within stipulated time-frame and initiate suitable action on their findings.
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