EGS: Cases filed against PWD engineers

But while the roadworks in question carried out by the above engineers have musters to the tune of over Rs 60 lakh, the FIRs against the officials are, for the moment, mentioning a fraction of that sum—Rs 5782 against Patkar, and Rs 16,581 against Dhondge—and are limited to few individual cases reported by Express.

But Thane Collector N Jantre said the inquiry was on and would spread in its scope. The paper had reported how there was widespread fudging of muster rolls with inflated wages and work days, bogus and duplicate names, besides those of the dead, and government employees.

Currently IPC Sections 409, 420 and 471—cheating, misappropriation of public money, and forgery of documents—have been applied against the officials, but the FIR registers no provision of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Thane (Rural) SP Archana Tyagi said her department was treating the case seriously, ‘‘This is the initial FIR. We can call for all the documents and investigate thoroughly.’’

But the police have made no arrests since both the engineers proceeded on leave. While Patkar wouldn’t answer his phone, Dhondge told Express, ‘‘I am on indefinite leave since I am feeling unwell. My lawyer will deal with this.’’

Don’t discredit scheme, says Thane collector

Mumbai Thane Collector N Jantre admits to corruption but says Maharashtra’s Rs 1,228 crore EGS—the inspiration for the Centre’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme—must continue.

Jantre said the Express report about dead persons in Ruighar on the roll was found to be factually correct. “So we immediately registered a case. Our inquiry is still on. Several villagers in Ruighar told me that they hadn’t received the wages shown on the rolls. The roadwork was also found to be substandard. We are looking at all these things,” said Jantre adding, “But this expose must not discredit the scheme. Villagers need work badly… I have told all departments that the current events must not mean they don’t implement EGS. They should implement it transparently.