The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly Speaker, Abdul Rahim Rather, yesterday announced the formation of a House Committee to probe the alleged financial irregularities in the execution of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) under the Jal Shakti Department. The decision follows mounting pressure from legislators, including members of the National Conference and Congress, who accused the administration of misappropriating thousands of crores meant for the crucial water supply project.
The announcement, however, has rekindled the claims of a senior IAS officer who had, back in 2022, flagged massive corruption in the implementation of JJM. At the time, his concerns were not only ignored but allegedly met with harassment from the highest echelons of power.
Senior IAS officer Ashok Kumar Parmar had formally raised red flags over the mismanagement of JJM, alleging that the scheme was being implemented without a proper Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis. According to him, the flawed tendering process and misinterpretation of procurement rules had resulted in severe lapses in the execution of the project.
Parmar, who belongs to the Scheduled Caste community, later filed a complaint with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), alleging that he was subjected to harassment, intimidation, and frequent transfers for exposing corruption. His complaint specifically accused LG Manoj Sinha and Chief Secretary Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta of targeted harassment, claiming that he was publicly humiliated and even thrown out of high-level meetings in 2022 and 2023.
The IAS officer had alleged that on June 6, 2022, the LG expelled him from a meeting in front of top bureaucrats, and on July 25, 2023, the then Chief Secretary AK Mehta repeated the act in a Committee of Secretaries meeting. He further claimed that his persistent efforts to highlight financial irregularities within JJM led to retaliatory actions, including repeated postings in violation of transfer norms.
Despite the gravity of Parmar’s allegations, the issue failed to gain traction in mainstream media at the time, raising questions about the pressure exerted on journalists and news organizations. The officer’s claims of corruption within JJM and administrative high-handedness were largely brushed under the carpet, with many media outlets refraining from aggressive reporting, allegedly due to fear of reprisal from the government.
Now, with the legislators themselves demanding a probe and the Speaker announcing the formation of a House Committee, the very allegations that were dismissed two years ago have resurfaced in the public domain.
The House Committee’s formation has put the administration on the defensive. Speaker Rather acknowledged that repeated concerns from lawmakers necessitated an impartial probe into JJM’s execution. “Whenever questions regarding the Jal Shakti Department have been raised in this House, there has been a strong demand for an investigation. Legislators across party lines want transparency in the project,” he stated.
With the House Committee now set to probe the alleged financial bunglings, there is a renewed focus on the claims made by now retired IAS officer Ashok Parmar. The question remains—will this probe bring justice to the whistleblower who was allegedly silenced, or will it become another exercise in political maneuvering? [KNT]
