Congress members corner govt on corruption
Thursday, 29 FEBRUARY 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The opposition Congress tried to corner the State government on the issue of corruption on the third day of the budget session of the Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday. As soon as the proceedings of the house started the senior Congress MLA Pritam Singh raised the issue and requested that the Speaker Ritu Khanduri should take up discussion on corruption under rule 360. She however allowed the discussion on the issue under rule 58. Initiating the discussion the leader of opposition (LoP) in the State assembly Yashpal Arya said that jungle raj prevails in the State and the corrupt officers have become unbridled. Giving the example of horticulture scam Arya said that a tainted officer from Himachal Pradesh was made director of the horticulture scam and under whom massive corruption in the purchase of the fruit saplings occurred. When the issue was taken to the High Court (HC), it ordered that the director should not make payments. But the director continued to make payments in violation of the HC order. Arya said that to hush up the case the government ordered a SIT investigation in the case which failed to interrogate the director following which the HC directed that a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry should be ordered in the scam. He said that in an attempt to save the tainted officer the State government went to the Supreme Court (SC) against HC order of CBI investigation which rejected the plea of State government. Arya said that similarly a scam in the Pantdweep parking in Haridwar occurred and the HC ordered an inquiry but no action was taken by the government. The Chakrata MLA Pritam Singh said that the State is reeling under the corruption and the government is protecting the corrupt. He said that the new excise policy of the State government is flawed.
Taking part in the debate, the deputy leader of the Congress legislature party (CLP) Bhuwan Kapdi said that he had evidence that corruption occurred in the tender of the work in which sign boards in the shops of Paltan Bazar in Dehradun. He claimed that the contractor was paid a sum of Rs 60,000 for making one sign board. He said that corruption also occurred in the allotment of liquor shops. Kapdi said that rampant corruption in the mining of river bed material (RBM) in different parts of the state. He said that the State government is losing revenue worth crores of rupees due to corruption in mining. Kapdi also claimed that an anaesthesia work station was purchased by the health department for Government Doon Medical College (GDMC) at a cost of Rs 59.99 lakh while its market cost is less than Rs 17 lakh.
Congress MLA Gopal Singh Rana said that Jal Jivan Mission has become a hotspot of corruption. Dharchula MLA Harish Dhami alleged corruption in the works of the irrigation department while MLA Tilak Raj Behed claimed corruption in fishery contracts of different reservoirs in Udham Singh Nagar district. Other MLAs of the Congress party also participated in the discussions.
In his response the parliamentary affairs minister Premchand Agarwal vehemently opposed the allegations of the opposition. He said that the State government is working in a transparent manner. The minister systematically answered the allegations of the opposition members. Agarwal said that all the mining contracts are being awarded in a transparent manner by following e-tendering. Intervening in the proceedings the Forest Minister Subodh Uniyal said that in the Pakhro illegal felling of trees case the government has taken action on the senior officers of the forest department and had even suspended an officer of rank of the PCCF. The agriculture minister Ganesh Joshi said that prompt action was taken in the horticulture scam when it came into light. He said that the government went to SC against HC order because it was undermining the efficiency of the Special Investigation Team (SIT).
