RAIPUR: Peeved over hundreds of applications filed under the right to information (RTI) apparently against him, a senior officer has written to the state government to investigate into the documents on dealings and businesses of his department either by any state agency or the Accountant General.
Ashok Chaturvedi, general manager in Chhattisgarh Textbook Corporation since 2016, has demanded from the government to probe into all tenders regarding the publications, transport, various printing processes, pre & post press works, distribution and other department matters from the year 2005 onwards till date.
In his 9-page letter addressed to the chief secretary, principal secretary to the chief minister, secretary (school education), additional DG - economic offence wing (EOW) and superintendents of police EOW and anti-corruption bureau, Chaturvedi said that his inner conscience make him realised if he doesn't seek in-depth independent inquiry then he would be considering himself as a criminal.
“Though personally I have never taken any decision against the rules or the by-laws of the textbook corporation but in recent times there had been hundreds of applications filed against me under the RTI consistently and even some negative news reports also published. So I developed the audacity to think of seeking independent investigation into the documents of the Corporation as the previous experiences in the department have been so scary and outrageous”, he wrote in his letter.
Interestingly, he quoted shlokas from Vedas, Puran and religious scriptures to justify his initiative. Through the medium of shlokas he opined that if there is thorough probe into the records for the past 15 years, a massive scam will unearth.
“I have conveyed about the irregularities in the textbooks corporation to the government. Now it's up to them to take further action”, said Chaturvedi.
“We are examining it”, Gaurav Dwivedi, the principal secretary to the chief minister, told the Express.
The Chhattisgarh government had earlier never received such blunt demand from any officer asking for an investigation into his own department suspecting "huge irregularities".
One might gauge how the textbook corporation remains mired in controversies as earlier too in May this year, Chhattisgarh Lokayukta ordered to take action against three officials including a retired IAS officer for their “involvement and collusion” in irregularities and a corruption case following a complaint lodged by journalist Narayan Sharma.