Ex-city govt official accused of tea, blanket scam

A day after a decade-old scam returned to haunt the chief of the Anti-Corruption Branch, a former Delhi government officer was accused of perpetrating a “blanket and tea scam” on Friday.

A complaint has been filed against Ashish Joshi, who had earlier in the week complained against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Secretary Rajender Kumar.

In the latest complaint, Joshi, a former Delhi Dialogue Commission member-secretary, has been accused of misusing funds allocated to the Delhi Urban Improvement Shelter Board from the Centre for Holistic Development, an NGO that works for homeless persons’ rights.

“As much as Rs 12 crore, which had been allocated to DUSIB by the Lieutenant Governor for welfare schemes aimed at making the lives of the homeless living on Delhi’s streets better during the last financial year, were misused,” CHD’s Sunil Kumar Aledia stated in his complaint.

According to Aledia’s complaint, an estimated 20,000 blankets, sheets and similar provisions were procured at double the price from the market while tea, which was supposed to be provided free of cost to the residents of homeless shelters, was procured at a price of Rs 9 per cup which was over and above the sanctioned cost of Rs 4 per cup.
Aledia’s complaint also alleged a “large-scale scam” perpetrated in the utilisation of funds meant for de-addiction centres under the government and ‘unwarranted expulsion’ of inmates from night shelters against Joshi, who was member of DUSIB’s finances at the time.

“We have received the complaint and are examining it from all angles prior to the registration of a case,” said a senior ACB officer. Earlier in the week, Joshi had filed a complaint against Kejriwal’s Secretary Rajender Kumar. In his complaint, Joshi claimed that Kumar, over a period of time, had indulged in corruption.

Joshi learnt about the corrupt practices adopted by Kumar related to IT during implementation of e-governance initiatives in DUSIB as chief digitisation officer.
Joshi had filed the complaint with ACB chief Mukesh Kumar Meena, who was appointed by LG Najeeb Jung, on June 12. The ACB also has a chief appointed by Delhi government. A 1992-batch Indian Post and Telecommunication Accounts and Finance Service (IP&TAFS) officer and Member-Secretary (Finance) of the DUSIB, Joshi was given the additional charge as DDC member-secretary on March 3.

However, he was removed within a month on a complaint by DDC vice-chairperson Khetan. Chewing tobacco and smoking cigars were the reasons behind Joshi’s removal.

In response to the allegations, Joshi has said that the blankets were purchased by the DUSIB management through open short-term tender. Similarly, the rate for tea purchase was approved by Competent Authority (CEO) and includes rusks with tea, he said.

To the charges of misuse of post, Joshi said, “In order to streamline and improve the management of night shelters, DUSIB adopted the shelter management agency approach. The shelter management agencies were selected by DUSIB through open tender.”

Dismissing the claims made against him for forcing the homeless to vacate shelters, he said: “An FIR has already been filed against Mr Indu Prakash Singh et al vide FIR No.58/15 in Parliament Street, for besmirching and tarnishing my reputation and for injuring my personal character through libelous and defamatory emails and videos on YouTube.”

DH News Service