IAS officer alleges graft in Jal Jeevan Mission scheme in J&K, says he was harassed by L-G

Ashok Kumar Parmar alleges that tenders worth ₹690 crore were floated for the supply of pipes unsuitable to J&K’s hilly terrain; his complaint to SC commission says L-G, CS harassed him due to his caste

The scheme has a ₹14,000 crore budget for J&K; the pipe component accounts for about ₹3,000 crore. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu

A senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer has alleged irregularities in the procurement of pipes for the flagship Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) scheme, which has a ₹14,000 crore budget in Jammu and Kashmir.

In a detailed complaint to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ashok Kumar Parmar, a 1992-batch IAS officer, has alleged that pipes which were unsuitable for the hilly and remote areas of Jammu and Kashmir were shortlisted by a committee that directly reports to the Chief Secretary of J&K, flouting all norms. Mr. Parmar was posted as principal secretary of J&K’s Jal Shakti Department between May 4 and August 7, 2022.

‘Caste-based harassment’

In another complaint to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), Mr. Parmar has alleged that J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and J&K Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta both harassed, intimidated and threatened him, due to their prejudice and bias against him for being a Scheduled Caste IAS officer. He feared that he may be implicated in false cases, as he had pointed out many financial irregularities and acts of omission and commission in the implementation of JJM in the Union Territory.

The Scheduled Caste office, hailing from Bharuch in Gujarat, has more than 30 years of experience. He alleged that after the Jal Shakti posting, he had been frequently transferred, once within 12 days, in violation of the transfer policy of the Government of India. He recounted an incident when he was “thrown out of the meeting room” by the L-G on June 6, 2022, and another incident when he was thrown out of the Committee of Secretaries meeting, held on July 25, 2023.

Denying the allegations, a senior J&K government official told The Hindu that the concerned officer was removed on grounds of irregularities.

Criminal conspiracy allegations

In his complaint to Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla on July 18, Mr. Parmar alleged that the chief engineer of the Jal Shakti department, Kashmir division had floated tenders to supply centrifugally cast (or spun) ductile iron pipes for ₹690 crore, based on an existing contract under a non-JJM scheme. The tender was floated in January 2022 and the orders were placed after a gap of six months in June 2022 under non-JJM specification, the complaint accessed by The Hindu said. 

Per norms and a government order dated January 9, 2020, the purchase committee led by the chief engineer had to obtain administrative approval from the administrative secretary, in this case, Mr. Parmar, for procurement of civil work and pipes. However, this was never done. Mr. Parmar alleged this was part of a criminal conspiracy by senior officials of the administration.

The J&K government official quoted above said, “The concerned official was removed on ground of irregularities. He has had several issues in the past too. The Chief Secretary and Lieutenant Governor have nothing to do with awarding contracts. The person wanted to head the contracts committee.”

A source close to Mr. Parmar denied that he wanted to head the committee, adding that a complaint was sent to the Anti Corruption Bureau of J&K too, which had failed to take any action.

Unsuitable pipes

The JJM scheme aims to provide potable drinking water in taps to all rural homes by 2024. The scheme has a ₹14,000 crore budget for J&K; the pipe component accounts for about ₹3,000 crore.

The complaint to the MHA alleged that high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes were recently procured in Jammu at a cost of ₹28.29 crore, in blatant violation of the provisions laid down in the General Financial Rules 2017, the Manual for Procurement of Works 2019, and the Manual for Procurement of Consultancy and Other Services 2017, issued by the EXpenditure Department of the Union Finance Ministry.

“It is pertinent to mention that the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) and District Action Plans (DAPs) with total budget of ₹14,183.56 crore for JJM were prepared with the provision of GMS Tubes (Galvanised Iron Pipes) and ISI marked Centrifugally Cast (Spun) Ductile Iron Pipes only. HDPE pipes are not at all suitable for hilly and remote areas of Jammu and Kashmir where people frequently damage these pipes to collect water flowing through the pipes,” the complaint alleged.