PJammu and Kashmir administration Tuesday handed over the investigation of major scams in Jammu & Kashmir Projects Construction Corp (JKPCC) to crime branch of the state police, which will register an FIR soon, an official spokesman said.
This is a major step towards eradication of corruption inthe organisation, stopping and eliminating backdoor appointments and bringingin a culture of transparency, probity and efficiency, he said.
After receiving numerous complaints about the functioning ofJKPCC, particularly relating to corruption in civil contracts, illegality inappointments at multiple levels and excessive cost and time overruns, thegovernment appointed a fact finding committee to look into all theseallegations, he said.
The committee looked into the manner of awarding contractsto contractors often on a nomination basis without following transparenttendering procedures, diverting funds from one project to another leading to alarge number of incomplete projects, he said.
Apart from these, it also looked into irregularities inappointments at various levels, including that of the Managing Director,inefficiency in functioning and huge time and cost overruns in projectimplementation, reasons for estimates for construction being much higher thanthose of the PWD, he said.
The committee submitted a voluminous report bringing out indetail large irregularities in the operation of the JKPCC and recommended onimproving the organisation, the spokesman said.
“There are many elements in the findings andobservations in the report which are quite alarming and a cause of seriousconcern,” the committee said in its report.
For an organisation which is over 50 years old, itsoperations seem to be riddled with ad-hoc functioning, absence of rules and alack of systematic procedures, it said.
Keeping in view the seriousness of the matter and thefindings of the committee, the government has decided a probe by crime branchinto execution of construction works and irregular procedures in violation ofgovernment orders, the spokesman said.
The government has decided to handover the investigation ofall works executed or contracted out by the JKPCC to the crime branch, headded.
Based on the enquiry of the crime branch, further action againstindividuals will be taken after registration of FIR, he said.