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ACB cases show graft highest in BMC

Times of India 18^th Jan 2012

Parties Step Up Efforts To Reach Consensus On Seat-Sharing For Civic Elections In Which Corruption May Be A Major Issue

Vijay V Singh | TNN 

    The Brihanmumbai Municipal C o r p o r at i o n (BMC) topped the list of corrupt government departments last year, if one goes by the number of cases registered with the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). Corruption could be a major issue this coming election because of the recent anti-graft campaigns. 
    The ACB registered a total of 65 cases in 2011, of which 22 were related to the civic body and 13 to the Mumbai police. The third worst was Mantralaya with six cases, following which were several government departments or bodies with graft cases in the range of one to four. 
    In the 65 cases, the ACB arrested 70 government employees and private individuals, and here too, the BMC did the worst. Thirty-three civic employees belonging to grade 1 to 4, along with three private individuals, were arrested in 22 cases. In contrast, 16 police personnel were arrested in the 13 cases relating to the force. 

    An ACB officer said the total number of corruption cases registered with them has steadily risen the last four years. In 2008, there were 48 such cases, in 2009 there were 53 and the next year 61. 
    The corporation had fared poorly in 2010 as well, but not as badly as 2011. In 2010, both the police and the BMC had 16 cases each registered in connection with them, though more civic employees were arrested. “This city does not pay attention to corruption anymore; it has accepted graft as a part of life,” said former IPS officer-turned-lawyer Y P Singh. “In the BMC, corruption is very high but only some cases come out.” 
    Municipal commissioner Subodh Kumar reasoned that BMC-related graft cases should be viewed in the context of the corporation’s size. “While examining these cases, one should also look at the strength of the organization. The BMC is a big agency and the number of (corruption) cases would appear higher than a smaller agency,” he said. “Before arriving at any conclusion, one should see the cases in the light of the number of employees and calculate the percentage. That would give a better idea. Having said that, the ACB should punish the offenders.” 
    Still, the corporation did suffer some high-profile graft cases in 2011. Its deputy municipal commissioner (encroachment), Chandrashekhar Rokade, was arrested last year for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh from a transport contractor. Rokade had reportedly demanded Rs 10 lakh from the contractor to clear the dues for supplying anti-encroachment vehicles to the BMC, and had already received Rs 2 lakh. The case shocked many in the corporation since Rokade was known as an upright officer. 
    Also last year, the ACB registered offences where the corruption in civic body affected the public directly. It broke the chabiwalla nexus after arresting many low-grade employees who extorted money from housing societies by regulating the water supply. It additionally booked several civic contractors for submitting fake bills of crores for work not done. 

We have good news here. Citizen’s Consensus Candidates can be the Solution.

Harishchandra pandey

Achievements over the last 24 months in our ward # 1

• Busted the MILK ADULTERATION racket in Borivali & Dahisar.
  
• SAVED 425 ACRES OF MANGROVE FOREST in our ward from greedy land grabbers and developers.
  
• Instrumental in the CLOSURE OF ALL HOOKAH PARLOURS in our Ward.
  
• STOPPED WATER PILFERAGE & THEFT which was polluting and hampering the supply of safe and clean drinking water to our Ward.
  
• Used the RTI to effectively REMOVE ILLEGAL & HAZARDOUS MOBILE TOWERS in our Ward.
  
• Used satellite images to CAMPAIGN & CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL ENCROACHMENTS and stop its proliferation.
  

ALL THESE ACHIEVED AS AN ORDINARY CITIZEN IN PURSUIT OF A DESIRE FOR A SAFER, BETTER & CLEANER ENVIROMENT AND SURROUNDING IN WHICH WE ALL LIVE. HE CAN DO MUCH MORE AS AN ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE.

FRAUD CHECKS 
Major graft cases in BMC in ’11 
FEBRUARY | The Anti-Corruption Bureau began a probe into a Rs 95-crore swindle attempted by a contractors’ cartel which presented fake bills for work that was never carried out. It later registered a case against 11 civic officials and 32 contractors 

AUGUST | The ACB busted a mafia of ground-level civic workers known as chabiwallas, who were extorting money from housing societies in return for fixing the water supply that was deliberately reduced. Three civic employees were arrested 

SEPTEMBER | Deputy municipal commissioner (encroachment) Chandrashekar Rokade was arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh from a transport contractor in his office. The senior officer had reportedly already received Rs 2 lakh of the total Rs 10 lakh bribe demanded. The case shocked many since Rokade was seen as an upright officer 

NOVEMBER | Assistant municipal commissioner Abdul Rashid Khan and junior engineer Ayub Shaikh were arrested for demanding a bribe from a contractor who supplied garbage disposal vans 

Times View 
    That the BMC has once again topped the hall of shame is yet another indicator of the quality of civic service that Mumbai gets. Service, for which citizens pay, coming at an extra price and depending on the will of a middle-level babu, is not what one would expect to find in a “global city” (what our leaders periodically promise to turn Mumbai into).

Cops vying with the bureaucracy for the top dishonour is also a telling piece of statistic; it shows corruption rules the roost at the very offices that are of utmost importance to the citizen. A totally non-corrupt lower- and middle-level administration may be expecting too much but the injection of a healthy dose of accountability—as well as incentives for being citizen friendly and efficient—can turn things around.