Senior IAS officer alleges ‘fraud’ in Jal Jeevan Mission, Accuses LG, CS of ‘harassment’

Senior IAS officer alleges ‘fraud’ in Jal Jeevan Mission, Accuses LG, CS of ‘harassment’

Srinagar, Aug 28, KNT: A Senior IAS Officer from Jammu and Kashmir has lodged a complaint before the Chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), New Delhi against Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Secretary Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta alleging harassment, humiliation, intimidation, atrocious behavior and frequent transfers for his being a Scheduled Caste solely for the reason that he blew whistle and highlighted bunglings in the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission of Jal Shakti Department (formerly PWD) in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Gujarat-based IAS officer Ashok Kumar Parmar, presently Chairman Bureau of Public Enterprises, Government of Jammu and Kashmir in his comprehensive complaint has made startling revelations that LG of J&K Manoj Sinha on 6th June 2022 had thrown him out of the meeting room with the objective to harass and humiliate him without any fault and this was done in front of all the Administrative Secretaries of UT of J&K.

It is also alleged that the Chief Secretary of J&K Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta on July 25, 2023 had also humiliated and thrown him out of the meeting of the Committee of Secretaries without any fault and he has been subjected to frequent transfers in violation of the transfer policy of the Government of India.

It is further alleged that this process of intimidation and harassment was done purposely due to prejudice and bias against him for being a Scheduled Caste and his act of highlighting bunglings in Jal Jeevan Mission.

The Senior IAS Officer in his complaint has further alleged that he intimated LG Manoj Sinha, Chief Secretary Dr. A.K. Mehta and Advisor to LG R. R. Bhatnagar about the dismal status of implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission vide his letter dated 20th July, 2022 that Jal Jeevan Mission is being implemented in J&K without doing SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis and pointed out in the meeting dated 02-08-2022 that works on account of JJM are slow because of erroneous and faulty procedure for allotment of works by misinterpreting the clause 4.5.2 of Manual of Procurement of Works, 2019 that one contractor can be awarded only 2 works at a time and DG Code confirmed that this clause is only valid for petty works to promote Startups and is not applicable to general works or tenders.

The IAS officer as per the news agency Kashmir News Trust further alleged in the complaint that the complainant being an SC IAS Officer has apprehensions that LG J&K and Chief Secretary J&K might go to any extent to damage his reputation and career by implicating him in false cases as he had pointed out many financial irregularities and acts of omission and commission of Dr. A.K. Mehta, Chief Secretary J&K, R. R. Bhatnagar Advisor to LG J&K & others in the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission.

When contacted, IAS officer Ashok Parmar confirmed to KNT that he has filed a complaint on 17 August this month before the Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. [KNT]