Ahmedabad: After an uproar in the house on Tuesday over the fake govt office caught in Chhota Udepur district last year, which was siphoning off funds meant for irrigation projects, 10 Congress MLAs were suspended for the rest of the day. The govt admitted that it had disbursed Rs 21 crore to the fake office, which was operating since 2016-17.
While the Congress’s strength in the house is 15, five of its MLAs were absent at the time of the uproar.During question hour, Congress MLA Tushar Chaudhary sought to know what action the govt had taken against those who opened the “fake” govt office in Chhota Udepur district and siphoned off govt funds meant for irrigation projects in tribal areas.
Tribal development minister Kuber Dindor said no such incident had taken place in the last year in Chhota Udepur district and there was no question of action to be taken. Enraged, Chaudhary claimed five such fake offices were set up last year in tribal-dominated Chhota Udepur district and offenders had been caught for them as well.
He was referring to the arrest of two persons in October last year for allegedly securing Rs 4.16 crore in govt grants by setting up a fake office of an executive engineer for irrigation projects in Chhota Udepur district.
When Congress leader Amit Chavda and MLA Amrutji Thakor sought to know how much money had been released to the accused, Dindor said his department disbursed Rs 21 crore to the fake office as genuine govt officers.
“This scam was busted by the state govt itself and it then came in the media. We took suo motu action. We have lodged FIRs against the accused and arrested five persons so far,” the minister said.
Responding to Chavda’s allegations about how long this fake office had operated, Dindor said it had been operational since 2016. He further said that scams were rampant during past Congress govts. Taking strong exception, Chavda told Dindor to come clean and take responsibility for it.
When Congress MLAs did not calm down despite repeated requests by the speaker, state legislative and parliamentary affairs minister Rushikesh Patel slammed the Congress for the chaos. Later speaker Shankar Chaudhary suspended them for a day after the BJP moved a proposal for it. The MLAs were suspended for the second sitting too.
While the Congress’s strength in the house is 15, five of its MLAs were absent at the time of the uproar.During question hour, Congress MLA Tushar Chaudhary sought to know what action the govt had taken against those who opened the “fake” govt office in Chhota Udepur district and siphoned off govt funds meant for irrigation projects in tribal areas.
Tribal development minister Kuber Dindor said no such incident had taken place in the last year in Chhota Udepur district and there was no question of action to be taken. Enraged, Chaudhary claimed five such fake offices were set up last year in tribal-dominated Chhota Udepur district and offenders had been caught for them as well.
He was referring to the arrest of two persons in October last year for allegedly securing Rs 4.16 crore in govt grants by setting up a fake office of an executive engineer for irrigation projects in Chhota Udepur district.
When Congress leader Amit Chavda and MLA Amrutji Thakor sought to know how much money had been released to the accused, Dindor said his department disbursed Rs 21 crore to the fake office as genuine govt officers.
“This scam was busted by the state govt itself and it then came in the media. We took suo motu action. We have lodged FIRs against the accused and arrested five persons so far,” the minister said.
Responding to Chavda’s allegations about how long this fake office had operated, Dindor said it had been operational since 2016. He further said that scams were rampant during past Congress govts. Taking strong exception, Chavda told Dindor to come clean and take responsibility for it.
When Congress MLAs did not calm down despite repeated requests by the speaker, state legislative and parliamentary affairs minister Rushikesh Patel slammed the Congress for the chaos. Later speaker Shankar Chaudhary suspended them for a day after the BJP moved a proposal for it. The MLAs were suspended for the second sitting too.
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