Tripura Government clarifies on corruption charges

FROM A CORRESPONDENT

AGARTALA, Nov 1:  In an unprecedented move, the Left Front government in Tripura came up with an eight-page long clarification about alleged ten scams against the government officials and ministers including the Chief Minister and the action taken report in each of the cases.

The statement uploaded in the Tripura government’s website claimed that the state government is transparent and accountable to the people but did not deny about the existence of corruption in the system.

“The Government of Tripura has over 1.61 lakh employees and there may be some isolated instances where an individual employee tried to indulge in some wrongdoing,” it said.

There is, however, no word about the charges against the ministers. The statement came at a time when the state is preparing for the Assembly elections.

The ten cases includes the Rose Valley Chit Fund in which the CBI has already interrogated minister Bijita th and in which the Chief Minister and five other ministers are also accused for abetting the company’s fraudulent activities for a long time.

While giving clarification, the statement admitted that the company cheated the poor people of the State to the tune of Rs 35 crore from Tripura violating rules.

The Statement said 37 cases were handed over to the CBI out of which the premier investigating agency has taken up only 8 cases.  The CBI refused to accept the rest of the cases because the money involved in these cases is minimal.

The other allegations include misappropriation of Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhijan and tiol Health Mission funds in Bishalghar, Rupaichari and Patcherthal blocks.  The action taken includes filing cases against several government employees, arresting and putting under suspension some of them.  Dr Ashok Sinha, spokesperson of the BJP, said in the first look it appears that the statement is a deliberate attempt to befool the people of Tripura.  He said they are examining the statement and will come out with a detailed statement soon.