BHOPAL: An unimaginable 168 labourers and 65 masons were engaged by a private contractor to apply just 4 litres of oil paint at a government school in Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol district – which cost a whopping Rs 1,06,984 to the state exchequer.
The bizarre bill, pertaining to the application of just 4 litres of oil paint at the Government High School in Sakandi village of Beohari, was not the only example of alleged financial wrongdoing. A similar bill was generated and paid for construction and painting-related work at another school in the same development block of Shahdol district.
At the Government Higher Secondary School in Nipania village, the same private contractor, Sudhakar Constructions, raised another bill worth Rs 2,31,685. This time, the charges were for applying 20 litres of oil paint, installing ten windows, and fitting four doors—works allegedly done with the help of 275 labourers and 150 masons.
Not only were these bizarrely inflated bills raised by the private contractor, but the payments were reportedly cleared with the signatures of the principals of the two government schools and the in-charge district education officer, PS Marpachi.
Surprisingly, while the bills claimed that 443 labourers and 215 masons were involved in the work at both schools, ground-level reports suggested that there aren’t even that many labourers or masons in and around the two villages concerned.
Further, the payments for the two bills, worth over Rs 3.38 lakh, were made by the district treasury officer without properly verifying whether the actual work, as detailed in the paperwork, had been completed on the ground.
After learning about the irregularities, Shahdol district collector Kedar Singh ordered a detailed inquiry by the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM). The SDM’s probe revealed that only token work, and that too of poor quality, was done in both schools. The inquiry also found that relevant documents pertaining to the claimed works were missing in both institutions.
Based on the SDM’s findings, the Shahdol district collector ordered action against the principals of both schools and issued a notice to the officiating district education officer.
According to official sources, the district collector has also ordered a thorough inquiry into all recent construction and maintenance works in government schools across the district, including the payments made for those projects.