Shimla, January 3: Taking strict action in the case of the water tanker scam in the Theog sub-division, the Jal Shakti Department has suspended 10 officers and employees. Also, orders have been issued to blacklist the contractors involved in the scam. This action has been taken on the basis of the preliminary investigation report, which was submitted to the government by the superintending engineer of the Jal Shakti Circle Shimla.
Serious flaws exposed in the investigation report… Serious irregularities were found in the deployment of water tankers under the Matyana and Kasumpti divisions in the investigation report. According to the report, this scam was carried out with the connivance of many officers and employees of the department. This scam is said to be worth about one crore.
These officers were punished….
1. Ashok Kumar Bhopal, Executive Engineer, Jal Shakti Mandal, Matyana, District Shimla.
2. Basant Singh, Executive Engineer, Jal Shakti Mandal, Kasumpti, Shimla-9.
3. Parineet Thakur, Assistant Engineer, Jal Shakti Sub Division, Matyana.
4. Rakesh Kumar, Assistant Engineer, Jal Shakti Sub Division, Koti.
5. Vivek Sharma, Assistant Engineer, Jal Shakti Sub Division, Kotgarh (then charge Theog).
6. Mast Ram Bragta, Junior Engineer, Theog.
7. Suresh Kumar, Junior Engineer, Lufugathi.
8. Neem Chand, Junior Engineer, Matyana.
9. Sudarshan, Junior Engineer (Retired).
10. Sunil Kumar, Junior Engineer, Dharch (Additional Charge in Fagu).
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Five officers suspended in preliminary action… The government has taken immediate action and suspended the first 5 officers in the list. Suspension orders were issued on Friday.
Action will also be taken against the remaining five employees… The government has given instructions to suspend the remaining five junior engineers and set their headquarters in the Chief Engineer Office of the Jal Shakti Department in Shimla.
Orders to blacklist contractors… Orders have also been issued to blacklist the contractors involved in the scam. The Additional Chief Secretary of the Jal Shakti Department has given instructions to the Jal Shakti Department to take necessary steps in this regard and submit the action report to the government as soon as possible.
Former Theog MLA Rakesh Singha had exposed the scam… Former Theog MLA Rakesh Singha had alleged, citing RTI, that there has been a big scam in the supply of drinking water in the Theog sub-division. The contractor has shown the supply of drinking water in the area through motorcycles and small vehicles. There are some vehicle numbers that have no record anywhere, and they have also been paid lakhs of rupees, whereas water was to be supplied through tankers.
On the complaint of former MLA Rakesh Singha, an inquiry has been set up in this entire matter by the Jal Shakti Department. Cases like fake billing, scams in the actual deployment of tankers, and misappropriation of funds were exposed during the deployment of water tankers in the Matyana and Kasumpti mandals. This scam not only caused loss to the government exchequer but also caused difficulties to the people struggling with the water problem in the area.
No compromise with corruption; strict action will be taken against the culprits. Kuldeep Rathore All India Congress Committee spokesperson and Theog MLA Kuldeep Singh Rathore has said that he cannot compromise with any kind of corruption and quality of development works in his assembly constituency. He has said that he himself is checking the quality of all the development works going on at present with the officials from time to time.
While talking informally to the media, Kuldeep Rathore said that the matter of the scam in drinking water supply in Theog has already come to his attention, and he had asked the SDM of Theog, IPH XEN, and the Deputy Commissioner of the district to investigate the entire matter. He said that corruption at any level cannot be tolerated.
He said that he is strictly against corruption and has zero tolerance against corruption. Furthermore, he said that the government should complete its investigation soon and take strict action against the culprits. He said that prima facie there seems to be something fishy in this whole matter, and the full facts will come out only after the investigation report. He said that the culprits will not be spared at any level.
Kuldeep Singh Rathore said that the Public Accounts Committee of the Assembly has also called the Director of Himuda to present his side regarding the construction of the low-quality newly built hostel here. He said that this hostel building has been declared unsafe.
He said that the construction of the civil hospital built here has also not been found satisfactory. Likewise, he said that no compromise can be made with the quality of development works. This is also being investigated, and the responsibility of the contractor and officers who constructed it will be ensured.
