Palghar PWD scam: Rs 73 lakh siphoned off using fake documents, FIR delayed

A major scam has come to light in the Public Works Department, PWD, at Jawhar in Palghar district. Fake documents for work assigned in the name of educated unemployed engineers were used to siphon off Rs 73,13,884 of government money.

Palghar Superintendent of Police Yatish Deshmukh had himself clearly ordered on August 28 that a case be registered without delay at Jawhar police station. But the process of filing an FIR has been stalled since, on the excuse that guidance and opinion were sought from the superintending engineer of the Thane circle.

Suspicion has now deepened that this excuse of seeking an "opinion", in defiance of an order from a senior officer like the Superintendent of Police, is being used only to protect a politically influential contractor. According to the B-1 register book of PWD Jawhar, work orders for seven works were issued in 2014-15 in the names of educated unemployed engineers under agreement numbers 331, 332, 334, 335, 336, 337 and 344.

Administrative approval was given in 2014-15, but the works were actually completed during 2015-16. Even after completion, the bills of these young engineers were held up year after year on the excuse that PWD had no funds. Then, on March 31, 2019, the last day of the financial year, a major administrative manipulation took place. The initial pages of the original files concerned were altered, and fraudulent changes were made in the cash book and the online cashbook. Bypassing the actual educated unemployed engineers, the entire Rs 73,13,884 was transferred directly into the account of a Vikramgad-based firm, "Mе. Jijau Construction".

Guardian Minister Ganesh Naik said that wrongfully altering government bill files to siphon off money is a straightforward and unpardonable scam. He said the fact that the money was later deposited back does not erase the charge of corruption or scam. He has clearly directed the PWD's superintending engineer to register a case against those concerned without delay, and said that if deliberate delay in filing the case is found at the level of the executive engineer, strict action will be taken against the officers concerned as well; these orders have been given to the district administration.

PWD Jawhar's executive engineer Sanjay Dongre said that guidance and opinion have been formally sought from Siddharth Tambe, superintending engineer of the PWD's Thane circle, on registering a case in this matter, and that further legal action will follow once the opinion is received from the office above.

When the concerned educated unemployed contractors learnt that the payment for their work had gone directly into another company's account, they raised the matter with ministers and public representatives of the time. Vikramgad's BJP MLA Harishchandra Bhoye took up the matter seriously and demanded that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis order an SIT probe. Following this complaint, a preliminary inquiry by Palghar Assistant Police Inspector Malhar Thorat established that it was indeed a straightforward scam involving government funds. As the police tightened their grip and orders for an FIR were issued, those involved grew anxious. In an attempt to suppress the matter, the entire amount was quietly deposited back into the government account in the first week of September.