Jal Jeevan Mission status in Jammu and Kashmir exposed by IAS officer who transferred four times
LG admin giving all false, concocted, misleading, and factually incorrect figures regarding the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission: IAS officer
Notwithstanding full-page advertisements in local and national dailies claiming successful implementation of the ‘Jal Jeevan Mission‘ in Jammu and Kashmir, a senior IAS officer with over three decades of service career has brought to light some of the gross violations and “bunglings” on ground zero.
The whistleblower IAS officer, Ashok Parmar (AGMUT CADRE 1992), is currently posted as Chairman of the Bureau of Public Enterprises in J&K.
Anticipating an adverse reaction from the Union Territory administration, the IAS, who has been transferred four times in the last year, has shot off a letter to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) against Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Secretary Arun Mehta for “inflicting harassment and humiliation upon him.”
“With all humility and due respect, I submit that Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor of UT of J&K and Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, Jammu and Kashmir are harassing, intimidating and threatening to me due to prejudice and bias against me for being Scheduled Caste IAS Officer and I have apprehensions that they might go to any extent to damage my reputation and career by taking any arbitrary actions against me to implicate me in false cases with the help of anonymous/ pseudonymous complainants as I had pointed out many financial irregularities and acts of omission and commission of Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, UT of Jammu and Kashmir, Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to Lieutenant Governor of UT of J&K and Shaleen Kabra, IAS (AGMUT: 1992), Principal Secretary, Jal Shakti Department, Basharat Jeelani Kawoosa, then Chief Engineer, PHE Kashmir, Manesh Bhat, the then Chief Engineer, PHE, Jammu and Shri Humesh Manchanda, present Chief Engineer, PHE, Jammu in implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission(JJM)” Ashok Parmar wrote in his letter dated August 17, 2023.
Referring to the incidents in his communication to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) Ashok Parmar also informed the commission that he was told to leave the committee room by the LG in the presence of all other administrative secretaries. “The Lieutenant Governor of UT of J&K had thrown me out of the meeting room on 6th June 2022 with the objective to harass and humiliate me without my fault. That was a big humiliation in front of all the Administrative Secretaries of UT of Jammu and Kashmir”.
Parmar went on to claim, “I had intimated Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor of UT of J&K, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of UT of J&K about the dismal status of implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission vide letter dated 20th July 2022 that JJM is being implemented in J & K without doing SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis and pointed out in the meeting dated 02.08.2022 that works on account of JJM is slow because of erroneous and faulty procedure for allotment for works by misinterpreting the Clause 4.5.2 of Manual of Procurement of Works, 2019 that one contractor can be awarded only 2 works at a time and DG code confirmed that this clause is only valid for petty work to promote startups and does not apply to general works/ tenders”.
Previously, Parmar had also intimated Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Jal Shakti and Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) that Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, Jammu, Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to Lieutenant Governor of UT of J&K and Shaleen Kabra, IAS (JK: 1992), Principal Secretary, Jal Shakti Department are giving all false, concocted, misleading and factually incorrect figures regarding implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in UT of J&K.
Jal Jeevan Mission was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15th August 2019 to provide every rural household with a tap water connection by 2024.
However, Jammu & Kashmir has set an ambitious target of achieving the coverage of all 18.35 lakh Rural Households with Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) by December 2022, i.e., two years ahead of the timeline fixed at the National level without assessing the bottlenecks such as hostile terrain and extreme climatic conditions, poor capacity and capability of the engineering staff of Jal Shakti Department and poor capacity, capability and financial conditions of contractors of UT of J&K.
Moreover, no enabling environment was provided by Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, UT of J&K to District Development Commissioners, engineers, contractors, and other stakeholders for the smooth implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission.
According to the letter submitted to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, Ashok Parmar wrote, “Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, UT of J&K transferred and posted me as Principal Secretary to the Govt, ARI & Trainings Department within 4 months vide Govt Order No. 917-JK (GAD) of 2022, dated 07/08/2022 despite my outstanding performance out of grudge, prejudice, and bias”.
According to Parmar, as Principal Secretary to the Government, ARI & Training Department, I started field inspections of the Departments as per the instructions of Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, UT of Jammu and Kashmir. However, he was not happy with the recommendations of inspection reports highlighting large-scale administrative and financial irregularities in various departments, particularly Jal Shakti, Rural Development, Agriculture and Public Works Department. Further, I had organized meetings with District Development Commissioners, and public representatives at Kulgam, Shopian, and Ganderbal of Kashmir province and Poonch, Rajouri, and Kathua Districts of Jammu province to redress their grievances. However, the Chief Secretary, of UT of Jammu and Kashmir was not happy with my redressal grievances meetings, and he advised me to do virtual inspections from the office without field visits.
Referring to his communication to the office of Union Home Secretary, Ashok Parmar claimed I had requested Union Home Secretary that there are inappropriate and premature transfers and postings of IAS officers in UT of Jammu and Kashmir and many IAS/ JKAS/ IRS officers are given the charge of two to three departments without considering their seniority and experience and many of them are allowed to continue to hold post/s more than 3 years of prescribed tenure. I apprised him that I am a 1992 batch IAS officer and my posting in the ARI & Training Department is not commensurate with my seniority and vast experience of more than 30 years in Jammu and Kashmir and the Government of India. Therefore, if my services are not required in UT of Jammu and Kashmir, I may be transferred out from J&K and suitably posted in UT of Delhi so that I can spend the last tenure of my service with my family as my son is studying in New Delhi. I am due for retirement from the service in July 2024.
To harass, humiliate, intimidate, and threaten me, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, Jammu again transferred me from ARI & Trainings Department and posted as Principal Secretary to the Government, Skill Development Department vide Government Order No.875-JK (GAD) of 2023 dated 18/07/2023.
Parmar claimed that after LG Manoj Sinha, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, UT of Jammu and Kashmir also humiliated me and threw me out of the Committee of Secretaries Meeting held on 25.07.2023 without my fault. That was again a big humiliation and harassment for me in front of all the Administrative Secretaries of UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
After that incident, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, UT of Jammu and Kashmir again transferred me from the Skill Development Department, and posted me as Chairman, Bureau of Public Enterprises, J&K vide Government Order No.913-JK (GAD) of 2023 dated 31/07/2023 within 12 days out of grudge, prejudice and vendetta,
“I am filing this complaint against Manoj Sinha, Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of UT of J&K, and Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, Jammu, and Kashmir for appropriate action for their atrocious behavior and my frequent and premature transfers and postings in violation of transfer policy of the Government of India to harass, intimidate and threatening me which was done purposefully due to prejudice and bias against me for being Scheduled Caste”, he concluded.
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