At a time when suicides by government officials are on the rise, the release of a list of ‘corrupt’ officials in the PWD government by a contractors’ association has created a flutter in the bureaucracy, as the Chief Minister handles the portfolio.
After threatening to go public with the names, the Tamil Nadu PWD Engineering Contractors Association (TNPWDECA) lodged a complaint with the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC). “Engineers are deliberately splitting the project into smaller portions so that they can choose the contractors themselves. The tender process is intentionally avoided,” TNPWDECA president S. Gunamani said. The list of top ten ‘corrupt’ officials with their designations and mobile phone numbers somehow found its way into social media and has gone viral on various platforms.
But, the Association of Engineers and Assistant Engineers’ Association of Tamil Nadu PWD has passed resolutions condemning the act of the contractors, contending that it was a deliberate attempt to defame engineers.
“They are doing this on purpose to defame engineers in the department only to settle personal scores. We can only make public the names of engineers if they are proved guilty,” R. Raviraj, General Secretary of the association said.
Despite the gravity of the allegations and that the Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam holds the PWD portfolio, the Opposition is yet to take up the issue with full force. Maybe, the entire Opposition is waiting for Monday’s verdict in the Karnataka High Court.
The irrepressible TNCC president E.V.K.S. Elangovan always speaks his mind. On Saturday, while presiding over a condolence meeting for writer Jayakanthan, he said the inspiration to talk without fear came from the late writer. His first encounter with Jayakanthan took place in unexpected circumstances. As a student of Ramakrishna Mission School in T.Nagar, Mr. Elangoavan would regularly visit the Sarada Mission girls’ schools to “enquire the well-being of students”. “One day, I heard a voice full of energy explaining who a Brahmin is.” I forgot the girls and stood there captivated by the writer’s powerful presentation,” he said, while everyone, including DMK MP Kanimozhi, listened to him, without holding back their laughter.
Intelligence wing officials of various State police forces that have been trying to track the hideout of Maoist leader Praveen alias Rupesh in the jungles for the past few years were baffled to know that he and his wife were staying in Tirupur for close to three years. That a most wanted leader could stay without getting ‘noticed’ for such a long period in Tirupur has once again exposed the prowess of State’s intelligence agencies. His stay in Tirupur came to light only when the owner of the rented house in which Rupesh, his wife and children had been staying, voluntarily disclosed to the police the details of his tenants after he saw the visuals of the arrest of the five Maoists leaders in Coimbatore district.
