The arrest of another civic employee while taking bribe on Monday by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) chief withholding two increments of 11 engineers in a cable theft case have once again exposed the fact that the malaise of bribery and corruption runs deep in the PCMC system. As many as six PCMC employees have been caught red-handed taking graft by ACB sleuths in the last five months — all this under the rule of the BJP which is in the saddle in its over three-decade-long history. On Monday, ACB arrested K B Shinge, an accountant with the water supply department of PCMC, while taking the bribe for clearing the bill of a contractor. Shinge had allegedly demanded Rs 1,000 from the contractor who then complained to the ACB, which laid a trap and nabbed him. With this latest action, the ACB has since March arrested six PCMC employees for demanding and accepting the bribe. On March 22, Balasaheb Rathod from the education department was caught taking a bribe of Rs 20,000. On the same day, acting education officer Alka Kamble was nabbed by the ACB while taking a bribe of Rs 20,000. One of those arrested included the then municipal commissioner Dinesh Waghmare’s steno on April 24. Waghmare was not in the office on the day his steno was caught in the parking lot of the PCMC headquarters. The steno had allegedly demanded Rs 12 lakh for clearing the files of a contractor from the commissioner. This incident happened just a day before the incumbent Shravan Hardikar was slated to take charge. On April 27, Ajay Sinnarkar from the anti-encroachment department was caught taking a bribe of Rs 6,000. On May 13, Tanaji Date, an assistant health officer, was nabbed taking a bribe of Rs 10,000. Immediately after he took charge and was grilled by journalists over the state of affairs in the PCMC, Hardikar wasted no time in holding an urgent meeting of heads of various departments and issued warning to the employees that they would be in trouble if they try to indulge in any illegal act. On Monday, Hardikar put on a brave face when The Indian Express approached him. “The ACB action only means that the system is working.those who do wrong things will be caught. People are coming forward and lodging complaints against the wrong-doers. I had already warned the employees on this count, but some bad eggs who refused to pay heed are landing themselves in trouble,” he said, conceding that the “malaise runs deep” in the PCMC. Hardikar said all the employees have been sensitised about the need to ensure proper functioning of the civic body. When asked whether there was a need for a separate anti-corruption department in the civic headquarters, the civic chief said it was up to the ACB to take the call. “But I think ACB already has its office in Pune.,” he added. BJP, which rules PCMC, too said it was not a blot on its regime. “This kind of action never happened during NCP rule which always shielded the corrupt. Under the BJP rule, the corrupt are getting caught and exposed,” said BJP general secretary Sarang Kamtekar. Meanwhile, last week, the PCMC chief decided to withhold two increments of 11 engineers who have been held guilty by a committee in a case relating to cable theft. His decision has drawn praise from civic activists as the NCP, during its rule, had decided not to act against the errant engineers. “I am going step by step. In this case, the 11 engineers were found guilty after a thorough probe was conducted against them,” he said. Hardikar, however, played down the charges that the engineers got away with lighter punishment. The BJP said that the cable theft incident happened during the NCP regime which tried to shield the officials. “Under our regime, we are not sparing the corrupt. That is our strong message.” said Kamtekar. Activist D G Baliga said, “This is just the tip of the iceberg. The PCMC administration needs to dig deep to find out how things have been going wrong in the PCMC.”
