He is ready to blow whistle again

Between 1998 and 2000, Kumar supervised the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) — an earlier incarnation of the NDA Government’s ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’ — and claimed that his audit showed funds being misused.

Out of the DPEP funds, Rs 140 crore were earmarked for Haryana over a five-year period but while the money was meant to be spent on teaching aids, some districts used it to buy medical kits, weighing scales, bedding and even bicycles. Kumar’s audit report reveals a number of such lapses.

For instance:

• In Bhiwani, 573 first-aid kits were purchased, with an excess of Rs 80,220 being paid to the supplier. A block education officer and a headmaster were the members of the ‘‘committee’’ which approved the purchase. In the same district, 573 weighing scales were purchased, but not from the company which quoted the lowest price.

• While the programme was meant for purchase of education aids for primary students of classes I-V, some classics like Meghdoot and a handbook on AIDS — AIDS Kya, Kise, Kyon — were also slipped in for libraries.

• In Jind, some bills were found fictitious.

• In Sirsa, a large quantity of spurious medicines were purchased, which did not even have a brand name printed on them. Also, heavy expenditure on conduct of workshops was shown, but many of the names of persons attending the workshops proved to be fictitious.

• In Gurgaon, books and training manuals were purchased from a particular printer for Rs 15.4 lakh, but no proper quotations had been called for.

Kumar says these irregularities were discussed and issue of errant officials was to be referred to a sub-committee. The panel has never even met, he said, adding: ‘‘Action was taken against me when I got cheap books, maps and charts printed to be used for the DPEP programme. But what about officials who diverted World Bank funds?’’