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A senior member of the state unit of the Communist Party of India (CPI) has alleged a close nexus between government officers and the corporate sector in Himachal Pradesh. Tikender Singh Panwar,a member of the state secretariat of the CPM,in a letter to the state Chief Secretary Rajwant Sandhu,has named at least half a dozen officers including a former Deputy Commissioner of Solan who,he says,have deprived the farmers of their rights and passed on huge benefits to the private companies in matters pertaining to land acquisition. He says the officers have later been employed by the companies,apparently for promoting the companies interests as government servants.
Panwar referred in particular to a project in Arki in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh where Gujarat Ambuja has set up a mega cement plant. He pointed at what he says is the connivance of some of the government officials with the managements of private companies like the Ambuja and Jaypee groups,both of which have cement plants in Solan district. Referring to Patwari Suresh Chand,an official who was chargesheeted by the Deputy Commissioner of the town for dereliction of duty,he wrote,This person was responsible for tampering the land record and changing the value of the land to suit the Ambuja Company,whereby the land acquired was for Rs 7000 per bigha and this benefited the company with over Rs 20 crores. Presently is working as Assistant Land Manager with the Ambuja Company.
Panwar,in his letter,made a strong demand for putting all government officials,especially those handling land acquisitions by cement and hydro-power companies,under the vigilance scanner to check massive corruption and misuse of powers.Others in the list include Keshav Ram,a former Naib Tehsildar at Arki who is now working as part of the management of Ambuja Cements.
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