'Laapataa village' disappears after getting development work worth Rs 43 lakh done!

The village, named New Gatti Rajo Ki (which even Google Maps can't locate) is said to be located near Gatti Rajo Ke village, close to the zero line of the Indo-Pak border.

In a bizarre case of corruption, Punjab government officials in 2018-2019 created a village that does not exist and spent Rs 43 lakhs on various development projects.

The village, named New Gatti Rajo Ki, is said to be located near Gatti Rajo Ke village, close to the zero line of the Indo-Pak border in Ferozepur on paper. Even Google Maps cannot locate this village.

This strange corruption case was discovered in the Ferozepur district's ADC Development Office, where officials allegedly approved more than Rs 43 lakh for development projects and formed the village on paper. Now that the issue has been made public, attempts are being made to uncover the fraud.

According to a report by Times of India, Right to Information (RTI) activist and Block Samiti member Gurdev Singh's persistent efforts led him to obtain information about Gatti Rajo Ki panchayat from the Punjab government. It was then they discovered that a separate panchayat was created for a village named New Gatti Rajo Ki. The RTI brought to light startling facts.

A fake panchayat was allegedly set up for the village New Gatti Rajo Ki by some officials from the BDPO office in Ferozepur and staff from the local ADC Development Office along side the real panchayat. The actual panchayat received few grants and development projects, the fake one got double the amount.

As per the findings of the RTI while 80 MGNREGA job cards were created for the real village, 140 were created for the fake one.

There was a discrepancy in the number of development projects the two villages saw. The real village say 35 development works, while on paper 55 projects were carried out for the fake village. These projects included cleaning of Army Bundh, cattle sheds, primary school parks, interlocking tiles, village roads. The total scam amount stands at Rs 43 lakhs.

Gurdev Singh later filed a complaint with the former Deputy Commissioner of Ferozepur. The officer was transferred before the committee's report on the issue could be finalised. Singh's multiple complaints to the Deputy Director Panchayat Officer of Ferozepur went unheard.

As per the report, Deepshikha Sharma, Ferozepur Deputy Commissioner confirmed that a report has been sought on the issue and said that appropriate action would be taken against those who were involved.

However a subordinate employee claimed that the issue was caused due to confusion between the Punjabi and English names of the village and the funds were used properly. But he was unable to clarify how grants were sanctioned separately for the Punjabi named and English named villages.

Lakhwinder Singh the Additional Deputy Commissioner said that the issue was under investigation and those involved will face severe repercussions.

Some vigilance officials believe the issue could be a result of a clerical error due to discrepancies in the Punjabi and English names of the same village. They dismiss the case due to clerical error.

However several documents suggest there is evidence of a major scam. A departmental officer investigating the matter claims that the facts of the case make it suspicious. The department has been asked to submit all relevant documents and investigations are underway. As per the initial findings there are two online portals for two different villages while one village does not exist and Rs 43 lakh was spent on its development.