RAIPUR : Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel has constituted a committee to inquire into the complaints of "irregularities and undue favour" in the process of work contract allotted for the Centre's flagship project 'Jal Jivan Mission'.
Taking cognisance of the series of complaints against the public health engineering department that has allotted contract to the vendors and firms in different districts of the state, Baghel has directed for an investigation.
A threemember committee headed by chief secretary RP Mandal will submit its report. The Jal Jivan Mission aims to provide drinking water to all rural households in adequate quantity by 2024. The Centre has approved Rs 7,000 crore to Chhattisgarh for the scheme, a senior official said.
However, there were repeated allegations of "giving undue favour and indiscretions" in the allocation of contracts in which huge works have been awarded to firms from outside the state. "This is the situation when around 1,200 vendors from the state got themselves empanelled under the JJM programme, but they were largely neglected through altering the contract conditions," claimed a local vendor.
The BJP lashed out at the Congress government calling the "massive irregularities" committed by the state officials as yet another corrupt practices exposed. "Unless there is a high-level independent probe, nothing concrete would come out of the panel. It will be just an eyewash. The intention of the state government is not that of public welfare but to misuse the allotted funds by indulging in corruption," said Dharamlal Kaushik, leader of the Opposition.