Though Vijay Bahuguna was the Chief Minister at the time of the June 2013 disaster, the present Chief Minister Harish Rawat was then a Union Minister and member of a committee constituted by the Centre to oversee the disaster relief works in the State. Considering this fact, the Chief Minister cannot escape his responsibility in the anomalies in disaster relief works, said the BJP State chief Tirath Singh Rawat.
He was addressing the mediapersons here on the eve of the planned gherao of the CM’s residence on Tuesday by the BJP on issues including corruption in disaster relief works.
The BJP State chief said the State Government was reluctant to recommend a CBI probe into the alleged scam in 2013 disaster relief because its Ministers and even the Chief Minister would be found guilty in a probe by an independent agency.
“The inquiry by Chief Secretary into these anomalies has been ordered by the CM simply to observe formality. This probe cannot be fair since it is an administrative probe into administrative corruption. We will continue demanding a CBI inquiry and eventually such an independent probe will have to be made into the disaster relief scam. When the BJP had raised the issue of anomalies in disaster relief when Vijay Bahuguna was the chief minister, the UPA government at the Centre had formed a committee to facilitate these works and since Harish Rawat was also a member of this committee, he cannot deny his responsibility in the anomalies.
The chief minister is presently busy making false announcements to diver the focus of the public away from corruption but we will force the State Government to recommend a CBI inquiry. If the State continues to refuse we will approach the Centre through the Governor on this issue. The gherao of the CM’s residence on Tuesday is against the corruption in disaster relief, mining and other issues,” he added.
Regarding the number of position holders in the State, the BJP State chief said, “This government has distributed positions and red-beacons to more than 200 persons. AT least Rs1.19 lakh is spent on one beacon holder per month so crores of rupees are spent every month by the chief minister to save himself and his government by maintaining hundreds of position holders.
Even the police are being forced to attend to such a large number of position holders which is affecting their execution of law and order maintenance duties.” Referring to the international Yoga day to be celebrated on June 21 he said, “While this occasion is being celebrated by numerous countries across the world, the day is not being commemorated by the State Government in Uttarakhand-the land of spirituality and Yoga.
Senior party leader Bachi Singh Rawat said that with the level of corruption rising and law and order situation deteriorating in Uttarakhand, even forest officials acting against illegal mining were being fired upon and receiving death threats. The BJP will strongly protest against the widespread corruption in State, he added.