Pressure mounts on Uttarakhand govt to take tough steps against corruption

Corruption scandals have bedevilled the state since Uttarakhand was born on November 9, 2000.

In the first five-year tenure of the Congress government headed by N D Tiwari (2002-07), 60 scandals were reported. A commission of inquiry headed by Justice B C Kandpal (retired) was set up by his successor, B C Khanduri.

In 2012, when the Congress returned to power, it set up the K L Bhati (a retired IAS officer) commission to inquire into the scandals of the previous BJP government, when Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank was chief minister. The sub-inspector recruitment scam of 2002 is still pending in the sessions court. A way to check corruption was the office of Lokayukta. The Lokayukta Bill was referred to a select committee of the Vidhan Sabha in 2017. Since then, nothing much has been heard.

On July 22 this year, the police started investigation into the alleged paper leak for class III government jobs through the Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UKSSSC). So far, more than 32 people have been arrested. They include Hakam Singh, a close aide of former chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, who once pursued the much-maligned zero tolerance policy against corruption.

Singh, who started his career as a cook, is alleged to be the kingpin of the scandal. Videos showing his plush resort at Sankri in Uttarkashi district have gone viral.

The UKSSSC had conducted an examination in December last year for filling more than 900 posts like assistant development officer (ADO) in various government departments. The leaked papers were allegedly sold for Rs 12-15 lakh. The owners of the outsourcing agency, which conducted the examination and the printing press where the paper was published, have since been arrested, said Ajay Singh, senior superintendent of police (SSP), Special Task Force (STF), which is probing the paper leak.

It all began when some unemployed youths who could not clear the paper smelt something wrong when they came to know that a large number of candidates from Uttarkashi district had cleared the test. They approached Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, alleging papers had been leaked there. Dhami immediately asked Director General of Police Ashok Kumar to investigate the matter. Kumar himself registered an FIR and handed over the paper leak case to the STF.

Even when the STF was investigating the paper leak scam, irregularities in recruitment to jobs in the Vidhan Sabha came to light.

Former speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal, a protégé of former Congress chief minister Harish Rawat, unabashedly admitted he gave jobs to his son and daughter-in-law in the Vidhan Sabha because they were unemployed. On the other hand, state Finance Minister Prem Chand Agarwal also admitted that he recruited close relatives of BJP leaders when he was speaker of the House from 2017 to 2022. Both Kunjwal and Agarwal asserted they did not break rules while giving favours. 

Vidhan Sabha Speaker Ritu Khanduri has now ordered a probe by a three-member committee headed by former IAS officer D K Kotia.  

Investigation into a couple of more scams like recruiting forest guards has begun, said Kumar.

Pressure is mounting on the government to take tough measures against corruption.

“Unfortunately Uttarakhand has not developed a robust administrative culture of fixing accountability even in cases of serious irregularities and corruption,” said Alok Jain, former chief secretary, who had brought tough procurement rules in the tendering process. But successive governments diluted them.

As the scams came to light, Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami has called for strict action, saying the STF, which is probing the matter, would not spare anyone.

“Irrespective of the person’s high connection, the guilty will get punishment,” said Dhami. He also called for making fool-proof arrangements to stop crimes like paper leaks in the future.

The main opposition, the Congress, has moved the High Court to seek a CBI probe into the paper leak scam.

“We have been demanding a CBI probe right from the very beginning,” said Karan Mehra, state Congress president.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) state Coordinator Jot Singh Bisht has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to break his silence on the corruption scandals in Uttarakhand.