Irrigation scam: Retd. AG's help sought to frame charges

By S. Rajendran

BANGALORE, NOV. 23. The State Government has sought the services of a retired Accountant-General to help frame charges against the accused in a major scam in the Irrigation Department involving a sum anywhere between Rs. 5 crore and Rs. 50 crore.

Sources in the Government told The Hindu here on Friday that although the efforts were not aimed at pinning down any particular politician or a political party, the Government would not hesitate to take action if sufficient evidence was available. ``As of now, we have listed the names which have figured in the records. At present, there is no name of any politician. However, should there be any evidence, we will not hesitate to take action.''

The State Government, especially the Minister for Water Resources, Mr. H.K. Patil, had sought a special audit of certain works pertaining to the two major irrigation projects -- the Upper Krishna Project (UKP) and the Upper Tunga Project (UTP). The Government which gathered sufficient evidence after a cursory look at the records, requested the Comptroller and Auditor- General (CAG) of India to go into the works pertaining to the Indi Branch Canal of the UKP and the main canal of the UTP in September last year. After a detailed study of the accounts, the CAG recently submitted its report to the Government.

Shocked by the revelations in the CAG report, a high-level meeting was held on Friday to discuss the steps to be taken to recover the excess payments, apart from ways of launching civil and criminal proceedings against the officials concerned and the agency which executed the works. Although it would take time to launch the proceedings, it was said the State Government was keen on dealing with the matter with a firm hand in an effort to prevent such a major loss to the State exchequer in future.

Sources in the Major Irrigation Department said that of the nearly Rs. 350 crore involved in the execution of the two projects, the Government was shocked over the ``erroneous payment'' of Rs. 5.59 crore as made out in the CAG report. ``In such a major project, erroneous payments are bound to be there. But never in the history of the department have we seen such a massive amount involved. This money has to be recovered, and can be recovered. The erroneous payment should not have crossed an upper limit of Rs. 25 lakh to Rs. 35 lakh, which roughly works out to 1 per cent of the total cost. And the erroneous payment in question here pertains to only the UKP.''

The Indi Branch Canal work pertaining to two distributaries (nos. 11 and 13) were originally estimated to cost Rs. 58 crore, although the work was put to tender for Rs. 76 crore in 1992. The work was subsequently awarded to an agency for Rs. 102 crore with the condition that it should be completed in four years. The agency never commenced the work, and at the end of the deadline, requested an extension, and a subsequent extension. Instead of cancelling the contract and awarding the tender afresh, the then Government reportedly gave a bonanza to the agency concerned resulting in the cost of the project shooting up to Rs. 234 crore.

The State Government has also taken serious note of the Irrigation Department officials disobeying the directions of the then Chief Secretary. The Chief Secretary, on noticing the huge payments without the permission of the Government, had ordered that further payments to the construction agency should be only with the concurrence of the Government. ``However, despite all the directions, money was drawn and 99.99 per cent of the payments to the agency was completed. As per government rules, amounts of over 15 per cent of the tendered amount should be paid only after the permission of the Government is obtained. In the present instance, 60 per cent of the amount was paid even before the Chief Secretary could issue directions. This in itself should speak volumes of the extraordinary interest of those involved in the scam.''

On the scam in the Upper Tunga Project, the Government was confident that the excess payments made could either be recovered or adjusted since the work on the project was still in progress. Although 11 officials have been identified and suspended so far, there could be many others to follow. There were those who did not even care for the resolutions passed at the board meeting of the Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Ltd. (KBJNL) where it was resolved that payments relating to the project should be suspended. Hence, it was obvious that there were many senior personnel of the Irrigation Department in the technical, administrative and accounts wings who were involved in the scam.

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