PIB statement on Arunachal Project: Baseless, says Govt, but facts say otherwise

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The PIB statement further said, “PEL executed the work from December 2012 to July 2015 and payment was made to them from time to time during this period, after due process of verification and measurement of quantity at site and the certification of distance by the State government officials namely Asstt. District Mineral Officer (ADMO), regarding quantity of boulder/sand mined from the respective quarry.”

Verma, in his report, echoed this. What he red-flagged was the fact that there was no system to verify this certification. “It became clear that the distance of transportation in the extra lead bills were solely on the basis of endorsements made on transportation summaries (as provided by the contractors) by a district official called Assistant Mineral Development Officer (AMDO)… The project officials of Kameng HEP had no system for verifying the distances involved and yet passed the bills for hundreds of crores of rupees on account of extra lead to the contractors,” the report notes. The PIB release inaccurately refers to Assistant Mineral Development Officer (AMDO) as Asstt. District Mineral Officer (ADMO).

The PIB release also says that in October 2015, Verma himself authorised ad hoc payment of 60% and in February 2016, further payment of 80% against bills. This, the Verma report says, was done because the project was stalled and investigation was pending. These payments were made against bills which at least had vehicle numbers (even if fake). Verma recommended legal action against PEL after completion of probe.

The PIB release says that “at no point did Shri Rijiju recommend that payment be released but only requested that ‘kindly get this petition considered in your Ministry sympathetically on priority”. The petition, however, clearly demanded release of funds. It also said since 60% payments were released by NEEPCO on November 4, Rijiju’s letter had no bearing on the payments. Still Rijiju’s “distant cousin” Goboi met CVO Verma in December to persuade him to release payments.

The release said, “NEEPCO is a Mini Ratna company and the government does not interfere in the operational matters of PSUs. No instructions or directions by the Government were given to NEEPCO at any time for making any payments. Thus, the allegations made are baseless, totally false and seem to be motivated by the chargesheet issued against an officer for violation of CVC instructions and service conduct rules.”