JAMMU: Thumbs up for Harsh Dev Singh, a former minister, an awarded legislator and chairperson of a regional political party, for showing deep concern and immense courage in highlighting ‘large scale’ corruption and acts of omission and commission, like plunder of public exchequer, encroachment of State, Forest Municipal and JDA lands, setting-up of illegal brick kilns, stone crushers, hot mix plants besides raising mammoth movable and immovable properties in and outside Jammu and Kashmir.
It is good to hear all this from a former minister, which the people of the Union Territory otherwise know full well. Yeh Public Hai Sab Janti Hai. Politicians seeking probe into the scams of the fellow politicians should normally be welcomed but when a ‘six- year’ rider is tagged; eyebrows getting raised is but natural.
Is Harsh Dev Singh suggesting that the politicians holding executive positions before six years had their hands clean? Were they all the disciples of Raja Harish Chander?
At a press conference here, Harsh Dev Singh made a vociferous appeal to the Lt. Governor to constitute a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) against the corrupt MLAs and Ministers who have accumulated huge wealth and disproportionate assets in the last six years.
Lambasting the erstwhile State Government for having grossly failed to take action against the blemished politicians who had looted public exchequer, encroached State lands, Forest lands, Municipal and JDA lands besides having installed illegal brick kilns, stone crushers, hot mix plants and raised mammoth movable and immovable properties in various parts of the State and outside by abusing their position and authority.
Describing the government’s tall slogans of providing transparent, accountable and corruption-free governance to the people a hoax, Harsh said that all such rants were made to enchant the masses for political gains.
He said that several ex- Ministers and MLAs had been reported to have created huge assets, taken loan from J&K Bank amounting to several crores and got it declared NPA besides having defied norms and procedures and violated Defence Acts and many other violations in constructing un-authorised structures and palatial bungalows.