Scams, irregularities rock ZP meeting
Committee formed to probe alleged irregularities in purchase of tur dal for schools
Scams and irregularities rocked Zilla Panchayat meeting held in Kolar on Wednesday, with a committee being formed and officials being directed to probe the matter.
A Zilla panchayat member brought to light an alleged scam in the purchase of tur dal under the Akshara Dasoha scheme for the schools across the district during the meeting.
ZP member from the Kudiyanuru, Yallamma, alleged Rs 1.5-crore irregularities in the purchase of tur dal for the schools in the district.
Following the allegations, detailed discussion was conducted in the meeting and it was resolved to form a committee to probe the irregularities.
The committee comprises ZP members M S Anand, Yallamma, G S Amarnath, Krishnappa and Deputy Director of Department of Public Instruction, Padmanabh. The committee has been directed to submit the report after thorough investigation.
Yallamma alleged that though the tur dal for the Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts were bought in Gulbarga, the dal has been purchased at Rs 42 per kg in Chikkaballapur while it was Rs 68 in Kolar. The irregularities amount to Rs 1.5 crore.
Interestingly, the quality of the tur dal sold to Chikkaballapur and Kolar districts is also the same.
However, there is marked changes in the purchase price. Further, the tendering process was also faulty and the contract was given to Om Shakti, she added.
Jalamani
Following alleged scam in the installation of water filters in schools across the district under the Jalamani scheme, a decision was taken in the meeting to direct ZP members, Assistant Executive Engineers and Block Education Officers to visit schools and to submit a report.
The meeting also decided to black list Doddaballapur-based DTTC organisation which is virtually non-existent.
A committee had been formed to probe instance where money had been released to the aforementioned fake organisation for giving computer training to unemployed youth under IES scheme.
The committee recently submitted the report following which the action has been taken.
However, the decision to hand over the matter to Lokayukta was dropped.
ZP CEO P Rajendra Cholan said that six percent of the total amount allocated for solid waste management will be utilised to giving computer trainings.
Cholan said that TPs had been directed to utilise six of the Rs 1.81 crore, which had remained unutilised in 2010-11, to give computer training to youth.
Inefficiency
ZP members Ramireddy, Yallamma and Narayana Reddy alleged that the staff at the primary health clinics didn’t function efficiently and as a result the people were suffering. The clinics also lacked basic infrastructure adding to the public’s woes.
Cholan urged the members to give the respective information to District Health Officer who would initiate action against the errant staff in the clinics.
However, when Ramireddy draw the attention towards the problems of district hospital, Cholan said they were outside the purview of ZP.
However, he added that district health officer along with district surgeon would take appropriate action to solve the problems.
Some of the members alleged that though the number of students in the hostels run by Social Welfare department were less, the authorities concerned were drawing full money.
Another member Kittappa alleged that the Malur taluk was a major recipient of funds allocated for the construction of compound wall at health centres.
Hence, the action plan of the Health department cannot be approved, he added.
However, Cholan urged the members to approve the plan only after collecting all the details from the members of all the wards and areas.
The decision to include ZP members in the ZP Task Force has been forwarded to Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, he added.
Elected
The ZP members unanimously elected Choudeshwari as the member of Standing Committee on Social Justice.
The post had fallen vacant after D V Harish was elected as ZP vice president. G S Amarnath proposed Choudeshwari’s name. Harish presided over the function.
