Agra. A case of corruption has been registered against Sudhir Kumar Srivastava, the then District Panchayat Raj Officer of Etah. It is alleged that during the year 2018-2019, he ignored the rules in the allocation of toilets under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in the district. Vigilance conducted the investigation after the complaint in the government. After getting evidence of irregularities by the then officer, a case has been registered against him under the Prevention of Corruption Act in Vigilance Police Station, Agra.
Sudhir Kumar Srivastava was posted in Etah
Sudhir Kumar Srivastava held the post of District Panchayat Raj Officer Etah from 30 July 2018 to 25 February 2019. During this, the first allotment of 20259 toilets under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Grameen Yojana took place on 11 September 2018. The second allotment of 26446 toilets took place on 22 September 2018. These allotments were approved on the basis of families found eligible in the baseline survey of the 2011 census. After the approval of the construction of 26446 toilets by DM Etah on 22 September 2018, an amount of 15,86,76000 was made available in the related check and bank advisory Canara Bank, Vikas Bhawan Etah.
These facts came to the fore in vigilance investigation
On coming to the notice of tampering in the baseline survey, the District Panchayat Raj Officer canceled the check. Whose said amount could not be transferred to the account of the concerned Gram Panchayats. Vigilance found in the investigation that the number of toilets allotted to the Panchayats by the District Panchayat Raj Officer was tampered with and irregularities were done with the norms of allocation of funds. Which he did not solve in time. He used the amount of crores of rupees received for the construction of toilets under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in his own way. Game of change in data caught in the investigation Vigilance found in its investigation that the baseline survey data of 232 gram panchayats was changed against the total 576 gram panchayats of eight development blocks of Etah.
Change in Baseline Survey Data
In the proposal approved on September 22, 2018, the first allotment proposal for toilets of 265 gram panchayats of Etah was sent. In which according to the baseline survey data of 27 September 2018, data changes were found in 121 gram panchayats. Under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the eligible people were to get Rs 5,000 for the construction of toilets. This is how the breakup was done Vigilance found during investigation that the then District Panchayat Raj Officer had approved an amount of Rs 15,86,76000 as incentive amount to the eligible. The record of approval was found in the documents. However, no order was available on file regarding the cancellation of the changes made in the baseline survey data.
The archival evidence of cancellation of toilet allotment was also not found. According to the rules, the District Panchayat Raj Officer should have prepared a detailed report in case of changed baseline and obtained the approval of the DM to cancel the allocation of toilets through a letter. The order for its cancellation should have been issued to the concerned.
