GAJENDRA RAWAT
Dhami government takes big action in Haridwar land scam! 12 people including 2 IAS and 1 PCS officers suspended*
If there is an unofficial consensus among people of the Himalayan state that Uttarakhand has become the synonym of corruption at least by the misdeeds of the corrupt bureaucrats, then it is believed – this is perfectly acceptable as the recent incident of involvement of two IAS officers in the arbitrary purchase of a land costing worth rupees 15 crores in multiple amount of Rs. 54 crores finally being suspended from service literally proves this hard fact. Those suspended after being nailed for this corrupt act are District Magistrate Kamendra Singh, IAS and Varun Choudhary, IAS after the earlier suspension of two officers namely Chandresh Yadav and Pankaj Pandey and a PCS officer within just five years’ time.
Pankaj Pandey and Chandresh Yadav were suspended in the NH-74 scam, although both were later reinstated and have now reached a strong position. It remains to be seen for how long these three officers suspended today continue to be under suspension or proves to be just an eye wash.
The Dhami government had been very active in bringing these two corrupt officers to book by suspending them forthwith after this startling huge scam was disclosed and became the headlines of newspapers and electronics channels.
The District Magistrate ( Haridwar) has been punished in the land purchase scam of more than 2 hectares in Haridwar district of Uttarakhand.
The Urban Development Department had appointed IAS Ranveer Singh Chauhan as the investigating officer for the preliminary investigation.
The inquiry officer, in his investigation, found Haridwar District Magistrate Karmendra Singh, who was also the administrator of the Municipal Corporation, negligent of his official duties and not following the prescribed procedure while granting permission for the land as an administrator.
As an administrator, he has been found prima facie responsible for not following the prescribed procedure while granting permission for the land and not keeping in mind the interests of the Municipal Corporation, ignoring government orders and violating the relevant sections of the Municipal Corporation Act 1959.
After this, he has been suspended due to the serious allegations leveled against him.
Along with this, the Governor has also given approval to take disciplinary action against IAS Karmendra Singh DM.
In addition to the above the SDM and former Municipal Commissioner also got into trouble and , now the Vigilance department will investigate the land scam in thorough detail going into the depth of the scam.
The case of Haridwar Municipal Corporation purchasing unsuitable and cheap agricultural land situated near the garbage dump for Rs 54 crore had created quite a stir across the state with the media all of this most controversial news pinning straight fingers of doubt and suspicion of the wrong doings in this huge land purchase.
The Urban Development Department had appointed IAS Ranveer Singh Chauhan as the investigating officer for the preliminary investigation. In his investigation, the investigating officer accused Haridwar District Magistrate Karmendra Singh, who was also the administrator of the Municipal Corporation, of neglecting his official duties including being prima faceily responsible for not following the prescribed procedure while granting permission for the land and not keeping in mind the interests of the Municipal Corporation, ignoring government orders and violating the relevant sections of the Municipal Corporation Act 1959 as an Administrator.
The officials against whom action was taken are:
Karmendra Singh, District Magistrate (DM), Haridwar: His role in granting permission for land purchase and administrative approval was found suspicious.
Varun Chaudhary, former municipal commissioner, Haridwar: He passed the land purchase proposal without due procedure and played a major role in financial irregularities.
Ajayveer Singh, SDM: Gross negligence was committed in the process of inspection and verification of the land, due to which wrong report reached the government.
These three officers have been removed from their current posts and further departmental and punitive action has been initiated at the government level.
This is not just an administrative decision but a clear evidence of the Chief Minister’s zero tolerance policy against corruption.
Along with this, Nikita Bisht (Senior Finance Officer, Municipal Corporation Haridwar), Vicky (Senior Personal Assistant), Rajesh Kumar (Registrar Laws), Kamaldas (Chief Administrative Officer, Tehsil Haridwar) have also been suspended with immediate effect after being found suspicious in the land scam.
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