Bihar’s Social Welfare Department seems to be on the radar of the CBI, which is probing into the sexual abuse of girls at a shelter home in Muzaffarpur. The Central agency has already grilled former Minister Kumari Manju Verma who had to resign under pressure when the horrible stories came to light. The CBI also reportedly questioned another former Minister of the same department, Damodar Raut.
Meanwhile, the department, in a major move, cancelled the selection of about 50 NGOs which had been allotted tender for running Aasra shelter homes for destitute girls and women.
Parveen Amanullah, who served as Minister in this Department from 2011 to 2013, has revealed that wrong doings were being done at the level of the bureaucrats and they were involved in all these activities. “Whenever anything wrong was brought in my notice I took strict view and sought explanation from the officials. I also used to convey this to the Chief Minister but never in my knowledge any action was taken against any of them except transfer,” she told The Pioneer.
Amanullah had resigned from the Ministry, assembly and also from the primary membership of the JD(U) in 2013. “The main reason for my resignation was that I was fed up with the wrong practices in my department and despite my strict action and refusal to sign the files there was no result. There was also no action from the top level so I decided to quit,” she said. After quitting JD(U) she had joined AAP.
However, she said she was never pressed to do favour to any NGO. Selection of NGOs is not done by the Minister, she said and added that she never signed any file without thoroughly reading it. Damodar Raut was predecessor of Amanullah and Nitish Mishra, lesie Singh and Manju Verma were her successors.
It is alleged that during Raut’s tenure, 2008-10, the Muzaffarpur sex abuse case main accused Brajesh Thakur got favour and funds from the department. But his successor had put a brake on the illegal practices. That could be reasons for her showdown with bureaucrats who wanted her to toe their line. Amanullah said the agency should probe everything in right perspective. “If there are wrong doings it will be on files,” she added. The CBI is investigating into the connection of Brajesh Thakur with the social welfare department.