Poor performance in HADP/CSS/UT Capex: Will the J&K agriculture minister order an inquiry against inefficient agriculture officers of Poonch? Part-3; Subordinate agriculture employees are facing harassment
POONCH TODAY NEWS
POONCH: In the previous two editions of “POONCH TODAY,” the number of loopholes of the agriculture department Poonch were brought into the public domain.
As a result, some tainted officers who were involved in maximum foul plays over the years under HADP/CSS/UT Capex and gave massive setbacks to the government exchequer were seen giving statements in the air by saying that nobody can do any harm to them and if any emergency arises, they will handle it by showing paperwork before the high ups. The Chief Agriculture Officer, who rather than bringing the system on track after exposure of foul plays by “POONCH TODAY,” has started harassing lower-ranking officials of his department in a more stringent way. A source privy to the development in the administration said that C.A.O. and his close one officers, who are considered to be masterminds of every foul play under HADP/CSS and UT Capex, are in a tensed state of mind and don’t know how to proceed further. Before the publication of stories in “POONCH TODAY,” the C.A.O. reportedly managed everything behind the curtains at the Civil Secretariat and Agriculture Directorate levels to get a lucrative posting further, but after the publication of back-to-back stories in “POONCH TODAY” related to massive blunders in the agriculture department Poonch, he has activated the same process strongly and wanted to leave Poonch by any means, but sources in the Civil Secretariat told “POONCH TODAY” that the high ups of the agriculture department are not happy with him. On the one hand, the top brass of the agriculture department has adopted a pin drop silence by not taking action against the erring officials of the agriculture department Poonch for their reported foul plays under different schemes, but on the other hand, they are not happy internally. Sources also said that a top officer of the agriculture department is silently supporting the C.A.O. and his teams, while other officers are not happy with the newspaper reports that are being published regularly by “POONCH TODAY” against the department. Moreover, some blue-eyed officials who joined the department at Poonch and were promoted several times in addition to enjoying their “Malaidaar tenure” were never transferred from Poonch, and it also raised a big question mark on the top brass of the agriculture department. It is important to mention here that the prestigious HADP project of the government of India is considered a master plan for strengthening the agriculture economy in a more rapid way through its twenty-nine projects, but over the years, the blue-eyed officials of the agriculture department Poonch played a massive foul, also in centrally sponsored schemes and UT Capex. The polygreen houses were not established as per the norms because some high-profile department officers had a fixed setting with the companies that used to establish polygreen houses. The department officials also have a fixed understanding with some private establishments that used to sell machinery, tractors, and related items. If a detailed investigation is carried out during the last six financial years regarding the purchase of different kinds of items by the farmers, the government will come to know that only some selected establishments were allowed to sell items because those have a fixed commission with the department officials. On paper, the department officials showed proper expenditure, but in the official letters, which are available with “POONCH TODAY,” it is seen that the main thrust of the tainted officials is to show 100% performance on the paper; it doesn’t matter whether those works were executed on the ground or not. Some subordinate officials were also directed forcefully by the top chair to clear the bills, but when the concerned subordinate officers objected, they faced huge harassment from the C.A.O. These days, the system is online in maximum schemes, and in this case also, the C.A.O. openly detected fake cases from the Galutha area of Mendhar, and it shows how much fraud was executed in the department when the system was not in an online mode. Sources in the administration said that only some officials are close to the C.A.O., and the top chairs used to dance to their tunes in every affairs, but behind the curtains, those mastermind people played havoc with the government funds over the years without any check from the government. Under maximum schemes of the departments, the farmers are allowed to buy machinery items from wherever they can, but the shrewd department officials tactfully trap the farmers and force them to purchase items through GEM, and in return, they get a hefty commission from the companies. The innocent farmers, who have no ground knowledge about various aspects of the government schemes, find themselves trapped with the shred department officials maximum times. The C.A.O., who has failed to justify his paper performance under various schemes to hoodwink the government, now has adopted a new strategy to divert the attention of his subordinate employees, and that is to put pressure on the employees by questionable means. Moreover, there are also reports that some people have approached the department under the Transparency Act with malafide intentions after getting huge information from back-to-back stories of “POONCH TODAY” against the agriculture department, as these days, the yellow journalism is on the rise with the involvement of non-professionals in the fourth estate. However, a detailed inquiry is needed under all the schemes to detect the modus operandi of the tainted officials of the department who, over the years, looted the government exchequer by preparing fake achievement reports under different schemes, especially under CSS and HADP. The J&K UT has recently got a new government, and the agriculture ministry is being headed by Javed Ahmed Dar. Now the question arises: Will the new agriculture minister order an inquiry against inefficient officers of the agriculture department, Poonch, who were involved in massive foul plays over the years under various schemes? The Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, also said that there would be no compromise with transparency and accountability. Omar also directed the minister to either perform or perish, as there are a number of contenders for the minister’s post. Now, it would be interesting to see whether the agriculture minister Javed Ahemd Dar will implement the vision of his Chief Minister on the ground by bringing to book tainted officials of the agriculture department, Poonch, and those sitting at higher levels who remained partners in crime with those sitting at the ground level and gave massive setbacks to the taxpayers money.