The Tamil Nadu government has granted permission to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to look into allegations of irregularities in the construction of medical colleges by the previous AIADMK government. The probe comes when several former AIADMK ministers have already been booked in various graft cases, and gains significance as it directly targets former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami. How the allegations surfaced The corruption allegations surfaced last October when activist N Rajasekaran filed a petition in the Madras High Court, seeking a probe into the construction of 11 new medical colleges by the AIADMK government. The petitioner demanded a CBI probe and an FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against Palaniswami, the then health secretary J Radhakrishnan, former principal chief engineer of buildings Rajamohan, and RK Vats, Secretary to the National Medical Council, for allegedly amassing wealth from the project. Later, the DVAC informed the court that there was prima facie evidence in the corruption complaint made against the former CM. The alleged corruption and irregularities occurred between 2019 and 2020. DVAC probe begins A top DVAC official said they are yet to file an FIR in connection with the charges. “We will initially conduct a detailed inquiry, and the FIR will be registered based on those findings,” he said. While not clarifying the role of the petition and charges raised by Rajasekaran last year, the official said the probe would examine 11 medical college projects in Krishnagiri, Tiruvallur, Ariyalur, Kallakurichi, Namakkal, Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar, Dindigul, Nagapattinam, Tirupur, and The Nilgiris districts. All these projects were funded by the state (40%) and the Centre (60%). Allegations under investigation include irregularities in construction, discrepancies between the original project and execution, and poor quality work. For instance, one of the charges is that while a tender was issued for the construction of a Medical College and Hospital with an area of 1,176,778 square feet in Ramanathapuram, the construction was done on only a smaller area of 999,296 square feet, and Rs 52 crore allegedly pocketed by the authorities and politicians. Similar charges of reducing the extent of the projects will be investigated by the DVAC, along with allegations that the AIADMK government and officials allocated and floated tenders for disproportionately large amounts to benefit contractors, including some linked to top ministers in the previous regime. What keeps EPS, who was not the health minister, at the centre of the latest probe is the role of the PWD department, which was under him when the buildings were constructed. In January 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated 11 new government medical colleges in Tamil Nadu. The total cost of the project was Rs 4,080 crore. Many former ministers under investigation The graft charges in the construction of medical colleges are the latest in a list of a dozen such cases under which former ministers of the EPS cabinet have been booked. While top officials confirm that not a single chargesheet has been filed in these cases so far, as many as six former ministers were raided in the first six months of the DMK regime. Most of the cases are linked to corruption, disproportionate assets, and violations in allotting tenders worth several hundred crores. The first target was former transport minister M R Vijayabhaskar and his wife Vijayalakshmi in July 2021 for allegedly amassing wealth disproportionate to known sources of income. Former AIADMK ministers Rajenthra Bhalaji, K C Veeramani, C Vijayabaskar, and S P Velumani are also being probed on corruption charges. Bhalaji is accused of having a direct role in a job scam worth Rs 3.5 crore, while Veeramani faces charges that he acquired assets worth Rs 28.78 crore and a 654% rise in income from his account savings before 2016. Former Health Minister Vijayabaskar is accused of acquiring assets worth at least Rs 27 crore. Charges against Velumani, former municipal administration minister, involve alleged corruption in Rs 811-crore worth tenders allotted by the AIADMK government to companies closely associated with Velumani between 2014 and 2018.
