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| Minister's nephew leads shady gang | | Plantation mafia at work in RDD again | | Abodh Sharma
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Aug 19: Open loot of funds under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) in the name of plantation is on in the Department of Rural Development and a close relative of a senior Minister in the coalition government is the kingpin of the plantation mafia which has prevailed upon the senior officers of the department to purchase truck loads of plants worth lakhs in complete violation of norms and then dump them in the block head quarters across Jammu division without any policy guidelines.
Sources in the department divulged that the plunder of MNREGA funds in the name of plantation started again after the previous Government unearthed large scale irregularities in spending in the name of plantation. "Then Minister for Rural Development had ordered a ban on any plantations under MNREGA after he took cognizance of complaints of irregularities and lack of policy guidelines under this head of the hyped MNREGA, but the previous director before relinquishing office, issued orders of procuring saplings worth lakhs under plantation head for afforestation drives to be conducted under each block" said a source in the RDD. He also alleged that the procurement has been done in complete violation of norms and also without conducting any survey on the number of plants required in each block or the types of plants suited for the particular area. "Rural Development Department has not expertise on plantation and neither did it care to seek from the departments like Horticulture and Floriculture, which could have done the job much better. The modus apprendi is simple- very small saplings of inferior quality are procured as there are no guidelines; they are planted without any post plantation care and within a month, these saplings die thus draining off huge public money and in the process filling the deep pockets of the blue eyed contractors and corrupt officers," the source added.
Meanwhile, ET learnt that a lobby of Kashmir based contractors, led by a close relative of a senior Minister in the Coalition Government is behind the entire shady deal which is aimed at siphoning off the funds allocated under hyped centrally sponsored schemes that benefits lakhs of poor people residing in rural and peripheral areas of the state. "A close relative of the Minister throws around his weight in the directorate and in the secretariat and coerces officers to issue such orders, apparently at the Minister" the source added, seeking intervention of the anti graft agencies to take cognizance of the said plundering of public funds. |
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