IMPHAL, January 31: There had been a multi-crore rupees fraud in delivering the rehabilitation package to those affected by the Thoubal Multipurpose project as the names of those who were compensated as affected villagers were not found in the electoral roll, alleged Andro A/C MLA Thounaojam Shyamkumar.
The State government has practiced disparity in providing the rehabilitation package to the upstream villages. The concerned minister and department officials have distributed the rehabilitation package of Rs 14 lakhs each to their own people whose names are not found in the electoral roll. The bogus list was prepared so that the government can give compensation to the people of their choice instead of those victims really affected by the multipurpose project, he pointed out.
The Andro A/C MLA has warned concerned authorities to clarify to the media after admitting their mistakes in compensating the affected villagers. If the government wants the relevant documents which prove their involvement in the scam, they can take it from him but he is definitely presenting them before a law court, he added.
If the State government does not take up positive actions against the corrupt officials, he said while warning to report it to the Central government so that befitting punishment was given to those involved.
The genuinely affected poor families of the Thoubal Multipurpose project were not provided with the rehabilitation package, he said, adding that there`™s no transparency in the construction of the Thoubal Multipurpose project. He said a huge sum of money has been siphoned off during the construction of the multipurpose project.
If the multipurpose project was taken up in good faith by the State government and the compensation for rehabilitating the affected villagers were delivered more transparently and genuinely, people might have appreciated and shown gratitude. But the project was taken up without sincerity and gradually became a wicked avenue for corruption. Such kinds of fraudulent practices might not have happened anywhere else in the world, Shyamkumar said.
He said he was surprised after discovering that the numbers of affected people who got compensated with the rehabilitation package were more than that of people included in the electoral roll and most of those bogus names were not included in the electoral roll while checking the records. About Rs 30-40 crores have been sanctioned to a particular village for compensating with the rehabilitation package, he added.
The concerned minister, Chief Minister or any departmental officials including Deputy Commissioners, Sub Deputy Collectors et must admit their mistakes and clarify through the media, he appealed, warning that if the government and authorities neglect his appeal , they will be booked with the help of the Union government.