On the issue of irregularities in the construction work of the State Assembly building and the High Court building, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) on Friday attacked the former BJP Government and said that the scam in the previous Government is like a smallpox disease, which will not be cleared so soon.
JMM’s Spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said there were many scams in the previous Government, which are now being investigated by the Hemant Government. He said till now the first priority of the State Government is to fight against the corona epidemic.
“Our priority was to save people’s life, their livelihood. The BJP which once used to say that there is transparency in their Government, whereas today the leaders are scared of investigation. The leaders of the BJP have become so scared as soon as this inquiry is ordered that now the Central leaders of the party have to visit the State continuously for them. Actually by doing this they are trying to tell that they are not afraid, the Central leadership is with them,” said Bhattacharya.
The party Spokesperson said there is a long list of scams, which is not ending. He said that the penalty of Rs 625 crore imposed on a particular group was changed to Rs 225 crore in a day. He said that at present when this matter has come to the fore, the people associated with it are losing their sweat and the people were saying that we are not afraid of case-litigation. The same people are now saying that the Government is taking action by being biased, he added.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Friday ordered an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) into the alleged irregularities in the construction work of the newly constructed buildings of Jharkhand Assembly and Jharkhand High Court.
The responsibility of construction of both the buildings was given to the same contractor. All this construction work was done by M/s Ram Kripal Construction. A public interest litigation was filed in the High Court regarding irregularities in the construction of the Jharkhand High Court building. It has been said in the petition filed that this mistake has been done with the connivance of the officer and the contractor.
Initially, administrative approval of Rs 365 crore was given for the construction of the High Court building. Later the tender was given to the contractor for Rs 265 crore after deducting Rs 100 crore. After that its cost increased to about Rs 697 crore. The amount was increased but permission was not taken from the Government for the increased amount nor was a new tender floated.