Fake GR case | Govt probe underway, 10 road works stopped: Why no FIR lodged so far?, asks activists

The fake GR authorised infrastructure works under budget head ‘2515 1238’ meant for providing basic amenities to villages in Ahilyanagar, based on recommendations by elected representatives.

”We had issued tenders…some works were alloted and as many as 10 road works were set rolling in four talukas of in Ahilyanagar,” Laxmikant Jadhav, executive engineer of the state public works department told The Indian Express.

Even as the road works started, officials in Mantralaya realised that they were being done through a fake GR. ”The officials came to know about the fake GR only when the contractors sought payment for the works undertaken so far. The rural development department immediately alerted us and all the works were cancelled. The government also stopped the payment,” B S Baviskar, superintending engineer, PWD, told The Indian Express.

The rural development department had issued a circular on March 28 this year, directing all Zilla Parishads and Superintending Engineers of the Public Works Department to disregard the said GR and also verify correspondence related to budget head ‘2515 1238’ through the government’s official email ID, officials said.

The circular also asked officials to remain vigilant while sanctioning works and inform higher authorities in case of doubts in GRs. It also directed them to initiate criminal proceedings if need be.

The ‘2515’ scheme of the rural development department facilitates small-scale rural works such as village roads, drains, roads to cemeteries and farms (also called pandan roads), public toilets, repairs to gram panchayat offices, gymnasiums and market stalls.

“These works typically cost between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 30 lakh and are carried out through Zilla Parishads or the PWD, often based on recommendations of local MLAs. Under the scheme, works costing Rs 1,500-2,000 crore are undertaken annually in Maharashtra,” the official said.

Baviskar said the funds to the tune of Rs 6.94 crore were sanctioned but were not utilised, neither any payment was done by the government.

”After it was realised that the GR was fake, the executive engineer’s office stopped all the works and issued notices to all contractors. They were told that we will not accept liability for any work. The executive engineer’s office then submitted a report to the state government. The PWD had also taken legal advice and accordingly informed the government,” said the superintending engineer.

Baviskar said the government had given instructions to file an FIR. ”I have also issued instructions to the executive engineer’s office to file an FIR in the matter…,” he said.

PWD officials said the copy of the GR is received by them from Mantralaya either through email or is collected by their officials from Mantralaya. ”In this case, the GR copy was delivered by someone at the sub-division office of the executive engineer,” said Jadhav.

Kumbhar said the government should ensure that all official correspondence are received by the district collectors and ZP CEOs through official e-mail ID only. ”There should be one official email ID for say Pune District Collector or other collectors. They should not receive official mails on their personal IDs,” he said.

Kumbhar said, ”This seems to be the tip of the iceberg. I think the government should carry out a comprehensive investigation to find out if there were other fake FRs issued and whether works worth crores have been undertaken.”

”Despite the fact that the government realised in April that a work worth crores got sanctioned through a fake GR, why are officials silent and why did they not file a police complaint? The rural department official sitting in Mantralaya and under whose signature the fake GR was issued should have been the first person to file the FIR,” said activist Vijay Kumbhar.

Echocing the same views, activist Avinash Chilekar said, ”It has been four months since the fake GR issue came to light. But no minister is talking about it openly. They are busy criticising the Opposition but are silent about the wrong happening under their nose. It seems this is not an isolated case. This practice must be common in rural areas. The government should widen its probe to include all the districts now that the fake GR case has come to light.”

-With inputs from PTI