DIGBEER BISHT from Ground Zero
This entire matter of Nehru Mountaineering Institute points not only towards administrative negligence but also towards alleged planned corruption.
The Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) located in Uttarkashi, which is a premier mountaineering training institute of India, today seems to be falling prey to administrative negligence and corruption.
The institute which was founded with the aim of national pride and training the youth in mountaineering, today the government orders are being openly flouted there.
In an order issued by the Uttarakhand government on April 27, 2018, it was clarified that contract or outsourcing appointments cannot be made in any department without the government’s approval and if they are, they will be paid from the officer’s salary or pension. Despite this, senior NIM officials ignored these orders and arbitrarily granted contract appointments to their “favourites.”
On November 14, 2018, 13 people were appointed on contract in a single day, without any invitation to tender. Despite the fact that Secretary Dr. Bhupinder Kaur Aulakh had previously issued an order on January 22, 2018, banning all departmental contract recruitments.
Despite this, this institution continued making appointments arbitrarily, and even today that trend has not stopped. This unambiguously indicate that not only were the rules flouted, but the appointed personnel were not even given appointment letters thus existing huge lack of transparency and accountability in the process.
None of the contract appointments made in 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022 followed the Government Order, nor was accountability fixed by any Registrar or higher authority.
And the matter does not end here—there is also talk of an alleged ‘masked face’ within the institute, who is being provided a monthly salary of Rs 50-60 thousand, government accommodation, and other facilities while remaining behind the scenes.
This person does not hold any official position, yet controls all the activities and paperwork of the institute as if he is the real operator of the institute.
This is a clear example of abuse of power and a gross lack of transparency.
When the officials of the institution openly break the rules despite clear orders from the government, it not only hurts the credibility of the institution but also raises questions on the administrative system of the state.
The state is already grappling with scandals like the UKSSSC paper leak, and the youth are continuously taking to the streets demanding a CBI inquiry.
In such a situation, such recruitment scams and financial irregularities in a prestigious institute like NIM raise serious questions on the working style of the state government.
This entire matter of Nehru Mountaineering Institute points not only towards administrative negligence but also towards planned corruption.
When government orders are openly ignored and hidden faces within the institution lower the dignity of the institution, it becomes necessary for the government to take immediate cognizance and hold the culprits accountable by conducting an independent investigation.
If timely action is not taken, this institution will lose its glorious past and sink into the abyss of corruption – and the consequences will have to be borne not only by the institution but also by the youth of the state and the country.
