The Hindu : Other States / Rajasthan News : Govt. shielding guilty in hostel collapse case: Congress

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Wednesday, Feb 23, 2005

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Govt. shielding guilty in hostel collapse case: Congress

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR, FEB. 22. The Opposition Congress members in the Rajasthan Assembly today staged a walkout alleging that the State Government was protecting corruption in the construction of public buildings and shielding the guilty engineers and officials. The recent collapse of the roof of a tribal girls' hostel in Banswara within 20 days of its construction rocked the House for over two hours.

The Assembly witnessed noisy scenes during the zero hour with the Congress MLAs charging that corruption was rampant in the Public Works Department and the collapse of the hostel building was an indication of the "pathetic situation" in which even the funds under special allocations were siphoned off by the Government officials, engineers and contractors.

The roof of the hostel being constructed for girls belonging to Scheduled Tribes under the Tribal Area Development Plan came crumbling on February 11, barely 20 days after the construction began. "A major disaster was averted because there was no one in the building when the entire roof caved in," Mohammed Mahir Azad (Congress) pointed out while raising the issue.

The Congress members took umbrage at the "selective" action launched by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Government in the mishap. "A junior engineer belonging to the minority community was placed under suspension, while senior officials who actually approved the plan and were responsible for quality control were let off," Ashok Bairwa, a Congress MLA, said.

The ruling BJP members created a din in the House while protesting against the Opposition's charge. The PWD Minister, Rajendra Rathore, said the preliminary inquiry in the matter had been completed and two engineers placed under suspension on the charges of negligence. However, his statement that the show cause notices had been issued to a couple of senior officials failed to satisfy the Congress members.

Amid continuing protests by the Opposition, Mr. Rathore announced that a committee headed by the PWD Chief Engineer would probe into the incident and submit its report within a month. He also said the contractor engaged for construction of the hostel had been blacklisted and his payments stopped.

However, the Leader of Opposition, B.D. Kalla, said more stringent action should have been launched on the basis of preliminary inquiry to prevent similar accidents elsewhere. Mr. Rathore then announced that another committee would shortly examine the construction of all roads and public buildings in the tribal areas during the last two years.

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