In an attempt to come clean of the check dam controversy State’s Minor Irrigation Minister Rakj Kishore Singh said there was a political canard to malign the image of the government that is working for the uplift of poor and farmers.
“There is a political conspiracy to malign the image of the government. An enquiry into the construction of check dams has so far given a clean chit to the agencies that built those structures. The media was misled with wrong figures. It is said check dam scam was of Rs 5000 while these dams were constructed with only Rs 183 crore,” Singh told reporters in an impromptu press conference here on Wednesday.
He said the allegations are very hilarious. When the department’s budget is just Rs 350 crore how come Rs 2000 crore was spent in construction of these dams, he asked. “Media should atleast get its fact correct,” he said
The scam came to light after Minister of Vocational Training Shivakant Ojha wrote a letter to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav highlighting poor quality of construction in check dams in Pratapgarh districts, the region he belongs to. There were reports of large scale irregularities to the tune of several thousand crore rupees in the construction of check dams in the state. Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan ordered a probe and Technical Advisory Committee of Irrigation was asked to conduct the enquiry.
The minister said that 679 check dams were constructed of which probe report of 504 dams have been received and nothing wrong has been found in the construction. “We will get reports of the remaining dams by fortnight,” he said and added if irregularities are found in construction action would be taken against the guilty.
“There is a conspiracy to tarnish the image of the government. Ours is the government that is working for the welfare of the people. We are ensuring that all constructions are of highest quality,” he said and added: “In this Government all check dams have been constructed on the basis of e-tendering. It has either been completed or are on the verge of completion.”
When questioned why there is lack of co-ordination between ministers in the government Singh said all the ministers are working as united team. “Ojha sahib found something wrong in his constituency he wrote a letter to CM and there was nothing wrong in that,” he said.