Congress Alleges Corruption in PWD, Questions Govt’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ Stand

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) has alleged that Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, who frequently speaks of "zero tolerance" towards corruption, has been compelled to expose corruption within his own department. The Chief Minister himself, who holds charge of the Public Works Department (PWD), has admitted that irregularities amounting to nearly Rs 500 crore occur annually in the department. Following this admission, officials and employees of the department have been left shocked.

Addressing the media, the Chairman of the Media and Communication Department of the APCC, Bedabrat Bora, stated, "The PWD is directly under the charge of Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma. On February 2, during a meeting of the PWD, the Chief Minister himself stated that when engineers seek project estimates in various divisions, an estimate that should be around Rs 2 crore is inflated to Rs 4-8 crore. The Chief Minister has admitted that through such practices, misuse of more than Rs 500 crore occurs annually. This clearly means that corruption worth Rs 500 crore takes place every year in the PWD."

Bora further pointed out that if corruption of Rs 500 crore takes place every year, then over five years the total corruption amounts to Rs 2,500 crore. He further added that the Chief Minister himself made this statement during a departmental meeting.

Bora recalled that upon assuming office as CM, Sarma had promised to create around 50,000 local contractors and provide them with work, thereby generating employment. "But today everyone knows that except for a handful of people, no one in Assam gets contracts. Payments worth Rs 26,000-30,000 crore are pending to contractors. Yet, if we look at the facts, around Rs 5,000 crore in bills under the Jal Jeevan Mission alone remain unpaid. In total, nearly Rs 28,000 crore is pending payment to contractors," he said.

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