Rs 20 crore meant for night shelters in Delhi siphoned off
Thousands of homeless poor are forced to sleep on the streets of Delhi in the chilling cold.
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For over 20 years almost Rs 20 crore earmarked for building night shelters and to provide other welfare assistance to the national Capital's poor and homeless was siphoned off with impunity. And when the scam was busted, there seems to have been an organized bid to shelter the guilty.
In an order issued during one of the coldest days here in living memory, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has asked the CBI to begin an investigation into the racket that has deprived the city's poor of several night shelters. It has also recommended major penalty proceedings, including possible dismissal from service, against 28 Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) officials.
Delhi has only 150 shelters, providing respite to a paltry 7,500 homeless people. The city has more than three lakh homeless poor, and a heated shelter could well determine if they get to live for another day.
When the first details of the scam emerged in September, 2010, the Delhi government's Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) stepped in to pre-empt the CBI from taking over the case. And the ACB has been sitting on it ever since, forcing the CVC to step in.
The appalling fraud has been in the works for almost 20 years. According to sources, between 1990 and 2010 Rs 19.44 crore earmarked for the DUSIB was siphoned off. Initially, it was blamed on Purushottam Kumar, who rose through the ranks to become an assistant director.
The initial inquiry had blamed Kumar, saying he didn't deposit cheques and cash meant for DUSIB into its account. It was also found that transactions were shown in the cash books and the account statements were prepared on the basis of cash book entries. Strangely, bank statements were never reconciled for almost two decades until September, 2010. "That raises the question if he single-handedly indulged in malpractices," said one source who has investigated the case.
An audit done after the fraud found wrong entry in cash books along missing entries and misappropriation of funds.
During the time of the fraud, Kumar had several officials senior to him, but strangely none of them ever scrutinized the account books for reasons best known to them. "Their connivance cannot be ruled out," the source said. Some of the senior officials were on deputation from the DDA, and others were DUSIB employees.
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