BENGALURU: The allegations of a scam in awarding of piece work contracts in the Minor Irrigation Department when Shivaraj Tangadagi was the minister seem to have been proved correct with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Legislative Assembly rapping the government for it.
The PAC report on the alleged Rs 39-crore scam which was tabled in the Assembly on Monday has exposed the irregularities and has recommended registering of criminal cases against the officials and contractors involved in the scam and recovery of the amount from them.
PAC, headed by R Ashok of the BJP, had taken up a suo motu case based on public outcry against the irregularities in executing the minor irrigation works in Kushtagi taluk of Raichur district.
The report has highlighted the modus operandi of the top officials and engineers who had split the Rs 39.38 crore project into 3,938 piece works worth Rs 1 lakh each to evade the rule that contracts costing over Rs 5 crore should be placed before the state cabinet. The piece works were awarded to influential contractors without the tender process.
The bigger shock was in store for the PAC when the inspection of the works was conducted, as most of these works remained only in the records and bills had been paid without executing the works.
A CID probe is also on into the scam and so far 17 officials have been suspended.
Former Minor Irrigation Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi was dropped from the ministry during the recent cabinet reshuffle.