Dehra Dun :Uttarakhand Chief minister B C Khanduri finds himself in a catch-22 situation. Having promised the people of the state zero-tolerance to corruption and the guilty would not go scot free, however, highly placed, he finds himself to be a square peg in a round hole following a complaint in the working of the Doon Valley Officers’ Cooperative Society.
The complainant, Dalip Kumar Bist, a resident of Lucknow has in his complaint to the chief minister has demanded a CBI probe into the allotment of plots in the prime area of the state capital. Giving facts and figures in his complaint, Bist has alleged that plots were sold to people who were not eligible to be members of the Society and as such there was a need to be looked into how the plots were sold.
Bist has not only given the complaint to the chief minister, but has also sent copies to the secretary, good governance, corruption eradication and public services department of the Uttarakhand government and also to the director CBI, for necessary action. Despite having made a public statement that all allegations of scams would be probed, the chief minister is yet to make an announcement.
The reason is that the role of the chief secretary of Uttarakhand, Subhash Kumar also happens to be a beneficiary. It is alleged that when Kumar was commissioner Garhwal mandal, a number of plots were allotted to him reportedly in benami transactions, against the provisions of the bye-laws of the Society. It is apparently because of this that the chief minister is shying from announcing a probe and even the government departments are sitting on the file.
The complaint also mentions that non government employees, who were not entitles to get plots from the society were also given plots breaking all norms and rules. Those who have been allotted the plots in one of the prime areas of the city, where the cost of land is staggeringly high, include hoteliers and those working in private organsations, after making them members of the Society, when they were not eligible.
Reminding the chief minister of his public statement that the corrupt would not be spared and action would be taken against them, the complainant has in his complaint raised a number of queries in the working of the Society and the manner in which nears and dears were allotted plots, violating all bye-laws and even demanded that all such illegally gained property be acquired by the state.
A journalist with over 40 years of experience, Jagdish Bhatt was Editor, Hill Post (Uttarakhand).
Jagdish had worked with India’s leading English dailies, which include Times of India, Indian Express, Pioneer and several other reputed publications. A highly acclaimed journalist, he was a recipient of many awards
Jagdish Bhatt, aged 72, breathed his last on 28th August 2021 at his Dehradun residence.
