Srinagar: A senior IAS officer has levelled serious allegations of corruption against Jammu and Kashmir administrative heads in the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission and has sought a probe by the Jammu and Kashmir Anti-corruption Bureau and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged scam.
The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 to provide tap water to every household in the country to achieve the target by 2024 as the year for accomplishment of the mission.
Ashok Kumar Parmar, an IAS officer with 32 years of public service, wrote a 17-page complaint to Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on August 15 alleging that Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta hatched a "criminal conspiracy" to commit irregularities, fraud and bungling to procure pipes worth Rs 3,000 crore by bending the rules of Jal Jeevan Mission scheme.
The officer has accused the Chief Secretary of ordering the execution of civil works of Jal Jeevan Mission in violation of relevant clauses of the Manual for Procurement of Goods 2017 of General Financial Rules (GFRs) and Central Vigilance Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India. The officer, who was the principal secretary of the Jal Shakti department in May 2022, has also accused the Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, his advisor R R Bhatnagar and another senior IAS officer Shaleen Kabra.
Media Advisor to JK LG, Yatish Yadav, did not reply to the calls and text messages, however, a senior officer in the Jammu and Kashmir administration told ETV Bharat that the allegations levelled by Parmar are "absurd" and the administration shall also take action against "false complaints".
"We are launching a week-long campaign to look into any allegations. Currently, we have none, except this one, which is absurd, to say the least. We shall also take action against false complaints. We run the cleanest system in the country and only the corrupt make wild allegations," the officer said requesting not to be quoted by name.
Contents of the complaint
The officer in the complaint, a copy of which lies with ETV Bharat, has accused L-G Manoj Sinha and some top bureaucrats in J&K of providing "all false, concocted, misleading and factually incorrect figures regarding implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) to the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
"Jammu & Kashmir has set an ambitious target of achieving the coverage of all the 18.35 lakh Rural Households with Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) by December 2022, i.e., two years ahead of the timeline fixed at National level without assessing the bottlenecks such as hostile terrain and extreme climatic conditions, poor capacity and capability of engineering staff of Jal Shakti Department and poor capacity, capability and financial conditions of contractors of UT of J&K. Moreover, no enabling environment was provided for smooth implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission," the officer has written in the complaint.
The complaint has been copied to Dr. P.K. Mishra, Principal Secretary to Prime minister, Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Rajiv Gauba, Cabinet Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Vini Mahajan, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India, Private Secretary to Union Home Minister, Ministry of Home Affairs, Private Secretary to Minister of Jal Shakti, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India.
The officer said that he had already been intimated about the dismal status of the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission from time to time, but instead of addressing the issues, he was transferred out of the department.
According to the officer, UT of J&K planned a total no of 3095 Water supply schemes (new & retrofitting) under Jal Jeevan Mission at an estimated cost of Rs. 14183.56 Crores. However, an expenditure of only Rs. 800.00 Crore has been incurred till August 2023 which includes Rs. 700 crores for procurement of GI/DI pipes only and the UT needs 3 more years (2026) to achieve the target of spending Rs. 14183.56 crore, if the rate of expenditure is Rs. 4000.00 Crore/year which is a very difficult rather impossible target to achieve.
"However, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, Jammu, Shri Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of UT of J&K and Shri Shaleen Kabra, IAS (AGMUT: 1992), Principal Secretary, Jal Shakti Department are giving all false, concocted, misleading and factually incorrect figures regarding implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) to the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India, Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India," he claims.
In 2022, Parmar was transferred from four departments within a period of eight months and posted as Chairman, Bureau of Public Enterprises. "These frequent transfers were a well-planned criminal conspiracy by Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, Jammu and Kashmir in connivance with Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of UT of J&K, Shri Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of UT of J&K and Shri Shaleen Kabra, IAS (AGMUT: 1992), Principal Secretary, Jal Shakti Department with malafide intentions to commit financial irregularities in procurement of pipes worth more than Rs. 3000.00 Crore in Jal Jeevan Mission," he alleges.
Parmar has alleged that the Chief Secretary had pressurized him to allot the work of Tawi Barrage project by negotiating the rates of tender with a contractor which "I refused to do so as negotiation with the lowest bidder is not allowed under the provisions of General Financial Rules and guidelines issued by Central Vigilance Organization (CVC)," he alleges.
The officer has requested the Government of India to "direct the Anti-Corruption Bureau of UT of J&K and Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate financial irregularities in the procurement of pipes and civil works in violation of relevant clauses of Manual for Procurement of goods 2017 of General Financial Rules (GFRs), General Financial Rules (GFRs) issued by Ministry of Finance, Government of India."
J&K political parties react
Following the revelations of corruption by the IAS officer, opposition political parties are demanding a probe into allegations of corruption and irregularities. National Conference spokesman Imran Nabi Dar told ETV Bharat that a time-bound probe should be ordered into these "serious allegations" levelled by the senior IAS officer.
"The administration is making big claims of transparency. Serious allegations are being levelled against the highest levels of governance. These allegations need a free, transparent and time-bound investigation," he said. PDP chief spokesman Suhail Bukhari said these are "serious revelations by a senior IAS officer".
"A senior IAS officer has made these revelations. If we had talked about these things, they (the administration) would say these are politically motivated accusations. But someone from within the system, in a very responsible position, comes out with records to justify and substantiate his revelation. It belies the whole idea of transparency in this place and strengthens the claim that things are going haywire in Jammu and Kashmir during this regime," Bukhari said.
