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DJB officials come under scanner

Staff Reporter

To face CVC probe for `favouring' a private firm for consultancy in Yamuna Action Plan

NEW DELHI: After the World Bank-sponsored 24x7 scheme was put on hold under public pressure, a number of senior officials of the Delhi Jal Board have come under a scanner and face a probe by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) for going out of the way to oblige a private company for approving a consultancy project under the Yamuna Action Plan Project Phase II.

What has further complicated matters is the decision of the Delhi Jal Board on Tuesday to re-appoint as Consultant (Technical) the outgoing Chief Engineer Subhash Phull who was one of the brains behind the controversial 24x7 scheme for privatisation of the water distribution network. It is alleged that the decision to re-appoint Mr. Phull was taken under pressure from the lobby that has been pushing for privatisation at a faster pace.

Interestingly, Jal Mal Kamgar Sangarsh Morcha, a union of Jal Board workers, has alleged in a letter to Jal Board CEO Arun Mathur that Mr. Phull had managed to get a job for his son in Pricewaterhouse Cooper when he was Chief Engineer of the Jal Board and the main member of the committee on privatisation. Interestingly, Pricewaterhouse Cooper was the consultancy firm that had come under the scanner during the privatisation project and prominent non-government organisation Parivartan had raised the matter that had led to a huge controversy and finally abolition of the project.

Another official, Parveen Bhargava, who was Superintending Engineer (South) but now has been transferred to a non-sensitive post as Director (Safety and Disaster Management), is facing a probe and major penalty proceedings by the CVC. What many observers find most surprising is that Mr. Bhargava, considered a close confidant of Mr. Phull, has been made member of a committee that is finalising the deal for consultant project under Yamuna Action Plan Phase II.

According to a letter written by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to Chandra Shekhar Dubey, MP, she has admitted that the allegations have been investigated and the department had sought the CVC's first stage advice to initiate departmental proceedings against Mr. Bhargava and other officers indicated in the report.

In another communication, the Additional Director of Vigilance, U.B. Tripathi, has stated that it is proposed to initiate disciplinary proceedings for major and minor penalties against officials of various levels including Mr. Bhargava who since has been charge-sheeted. "If Mr. Bhargava has been charge-sheeted and holds a dubious record, what is he doing in such a sensitive committee. The proceedings of the committee itself have come under a scanner and there is an apprehension that a lobby within the Delhi Government including a high official are busy pushing the case of a private company for award of works running into hundreds of crores," another official remarked.

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