- -67 lakh breakup exposed
- Suspected to be more than 100 crores
Nagpur, The echo of stationery scam, which is going on in constant discussions in the Municipal Corporation, has now reached the chamber of the state government’s Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde. MLA Vikas Thackeray has submitted a letter to the minister demanding a high-level inquiry in this regard. In the letter, he said that since the last few days, the stationery scam is being investigated in Nagpur Municipal Corporation.
At the primary level, only 67 lakhs was being estimated to be a scam. This scam is not only about one department, stationery was bought in every department of Municipal Corporation. Thus it is suspected to be a case of embezzlement of more than 100 crores. During the discussion, MLA Thackeray said that more than 15 days have elapsed since the scam was exposed, but the ongoing investigation at the municipal level is only a hoax. Only 3 employees have been arrested from the police side, while the involvement of many senior officers cannot be ruled out.
Misuse of emergency aid funds
Thackeray said that for the measures for the corona epidemic, the state government has given a separate aid fund of 25 crores to the Municipal Corporation in the years 2020-21 and 2021-22. State government aid funds have also been misused in stationery scam. During the Corona epidemic, a 1,000-bed hospital was built at Radhaswami Satsang Center near Dahegaon on Katol Road.
Apart from this, separate quarantine centers were prepared in each zone during the epidemic. Many items were purchased without tender on which huge amount of funds have been spent. Complaints are being made by the people about large scale irregularities in this expenditure.
No control of ruling party and commissioner
During the discussion, he said that if the entire functioning of the Municipal Corporation is seen, then the ruling party and the commissioner do not have control over the administration. That is why the administration became autocratic. A few years ago, there was a similar sports material scam in the Municipal Corporation. Nandlal committee was appointed. In the investigation of the committee, cases were registered against many councilors and officials. Similarly, there should be a high-level inquiry into the stationery scam and the expenditure in the name of measures during the pandemic. After the discussion, Urban Development Minister Shinde assured to issue an order in this regard soon.