Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday (Aug 11) said his government has ordered a judicial inquiry led by retired High Court judge Justice B. Veerappa into the alleged scams that have taken place during the previous BJP government, and it is improper to release payments of the civil contractors’ pending bills till the probe is over.
“Before the Assembly elections, we had promised to investigate the corruption scandals of the BJP government if the Congress party came to power,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said in a series of posts on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter).
He said that the voters of the State believed in the Congress party and voted against BJP’s “corruption, commission abuse, tax looting” and helped his party win 135 seats in the Assembly and allowed it to form a “safe and stable” government.
Noting that “it is the duty of the government to keep the promise made to the people”, Mr. Siddaramaiah said, “We have ordered a judicial investigation led by retired judge Justice B. Veerappa into the 40% commission scam of the BJP government.”
He alleged that during the BJP government, the bills of civil contracts were paid for the old works without carrying out the work itself, and in some other places, only half the work was done.
“The judicial panel headed by retired Justice B. Veerappa is investigating all these scams, and it is not reasonable to release the outstanding bill money before the investigation report is complete. The government will not allow injustice to any contractor who has done the work fairly. Contractors need not fear this. But should not those who did corruption pay for it?” he asked.
He also hit out at former Minister and BJP MLA R. Ashok, who on Thursday alleged that the Congress government was collecting 15% commission for releasing payments to contractors.
“The charge of 15% commission levelled by Mr. Ashok against our government is baseless, but it is good that he has reduced the commission rate from 40% to 15%. This statement of Mr. Ashok shows that in his mind, the Congress government is better than the BJP government,” the Chief Minister said.
Accepting the allegations made against the government, Mr. Siddaramaiah said, “We will win this ordeal and prove to the people of the State that we are not only good but also the best, transparent, and pro-people government,”
On the allegations of the contractors that the release of payments to their bills was held back allegedly due to non-payment of 15% commission on public works, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that already the Karnataka State Small and Medium Contractors and BBMP Contractors Association has discussed the issue of pending bills with him.
He said instructions had been given to release the Programme Of Work-related bill. This money will be released as soon as certain normal processes related to the release of works bills are completed.
