Sitting pradhan in Syohara hamlet of Bijnore along with two secretaries of local gram panchayat and one more panchayat employee were placed under suspension and a Departmental proceedings as well as criminal proceedings has been also initiated against them after an enquiry held them accused of swindling of development fund in the area. The enquiry was reportedly made after a query regarding the development work was sought by filing an application under Right to Information (RTI).
State Information Commissioner (SIC), Hafiz Usman claimed here on Tuesday that an RTI activists filed a RTI seeking details of development work took place in Budhanpur Syohara block of Bijnore. When he failed to get a reply, the activists proceeded further and filed an appeal in the matter in his court, claimed Usman. He said that after finding large scale bungling, he directed gram panchayat officer of the above block to enquiry the matter and submit a report in this regard. He said that the officer concerned lalit Pratap Singh, appeared before him in his court and informed that he conducted an enquiry into the matter and found the local pradhan, Kunti Devi, two secretaries of local Gram Panchayat, Gyanendra Singh and Naeem Ahmed, along with Work Assistant Sanjeev Kumar, had swindled the fund after making irregularities in the records of the work taken in the area.
According to Usman, the enquiry pointed that the above person with laying kharanja, or drainage ets work in the area, had completed the entire formalities just on paper and had swindled the money. SIC claimed that he was also informed that taking cognizance of the above irregularities, all the above persons were placed under suspension and Departmental proceedings has been also initiated against them. Usman said that besides the above, the local officers also get a case registered against the accused and had issued notice to recover the money swindled by the accused. He said that a letter was also dispatched to district magistrate of Bijnore to end the contract of work assistant Sanjeev Kumar.