Govt fails to complete even a single ‘high-level, time-bound inquiry’ ordered last year
Srinagar, January 28:
The government has failed to complete even a single high-level inquiry among around half dozen-odd ordered last year.
The infamous recruitment in the Khadi and Village Industries Board (KVIB) under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) last year had led to the constitution of a high-level inquiry committee under the Principal Secretary, Home.
As per the initial order issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) in March last year, the committee was to submit its report in a month’s time.
However, till date no report has been made public.
Another probe ordered into the behaviour of the former Director Tourism Kashmir Tassduq Jeelani after his speech during the ‘Kashmir Familiarization Tour’ at Gulmarg had left the government red-faced but it too was not completed.
The government had ordered Divisional Commissioner Kashmir to conduct an inquiry into the incident and submit a report to GAD within 10 days time.
However, since November last year, when the 10 days expired, the report is yet to be made public.
Jeelani was appointed as Special Secretary to the Government, Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj in December.
The government last year constituted a Fact Finding Committee to investigate the manner of awarding contracts to contractors by the Jammu and Kashmir Project Construction Company.
An order issued by GAD in December last year had stated that the committee would inquire into the “irregularities in appointments at various levels, including appointment of the Managing Director”.
The order stated that the “inefficiency” in the functioning had led to “huge” time and cost overruns in the projects.
As per the order, the committee was supposed to submit a report to the GAD within a month.
However, the report is still to be submitted to the government, leaving one wondrous about the fate of such inquiries.
The probe ordered into the sanction of building permission case for construction of a multi-storied complex at Raj Bagh near Hatric restaurant has also met the same fate as other inquiries.
The probe ordered by former Governor Narinder Nath Vohra, just after the fall of the PDP-BJP government, was an outcome of public wrath over allegations that the site for the complex was owned by the government.
Even National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah in the previous budget session had alleged in the lower house that the site was illegally given to the person in question.
However, till date, the inquiry committee headed by Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Abid Rasheed has failed to make the findings public, even though the work on the complex is going on in full swing.
The probe ordered by Governor Satya Pal Malik into the grant of tender to the Reliance General Insurance is yet to be started.
Soon after foreclosing the insurance scheme in October last year, Raj Bhawan had said, “Keeping in view the importance of the matter, the government has directed the Director, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), to personally look into the matter rather than entrusting it to someone else.”
The Raj Bhawan had claimed that action would be taken on the findings of the ACB.
As per the sources, the ACB has not made any head start in the case till date.
Another inquiry initiated last year through a GAD order into the alleged flouting of norms of J&K Forest (Conservation) Act, 1997 by PMGSY officers in Reasi is still pending.
“Sanction is hereby accorded to inquiry into the use of 2.635 hectares of Forest land for construction of road from kilometre 15 onward to Narla in Reasi Forest Division by the officers and officials of PMGSY in violation of the J&K Forest (Conservation) Act, 1997,” the GAD order issued in March last year stated.
“The Inquiry Officer shall submit his report within a period of one month from the date of issuance of this order,” the order said.
However the government in October last year changed the inquiry officer in the case through another GAD order along with according the new officer, Rohit Kansa a month to file his report in the matter.
However, since then the inquiry is still pending.
A GAD order issued last year in April initiating an inquiry into the charges framed against three Sheri Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) doctors has till date not been made public.
The probe was ordered after the three SKIMS doctors were caught on camera in their private clinics by a news channel last year.
“Sanction is hereby accorded to the appointment of R K Goyal, Principal Secretary Government Home Department as Inquiry Officer to inquire into the charges framed against the three faculty members of SKIMS, Dr Altaf Rehman Kirmani, Dean and HOD, General Surgery, Dr Mushtaq Ahmad Wani, HOD, Neurology and Dr Syed Wajid Ali, HOD, Neonatology and Pediatrics,” the GAD order read.
As per the order, the Inquiry Officer had to submit his report within a period of one month from the date of issuance of the order.
However, neither has any action been initiated against the trio till date nor have they been publicly absolved by the government.
An officer in the administration, wishing anonymity, said the GAD alone had over two dozen pending inquiries over past two years.
“The magnitude of such pending inquiries in other departments can be gauged by the fact that GAD alone is dormant in these cases,” the official said.
Courtesy: Rising Kashmir
