NPRAAF demands inquiry into PHE department in Nagaland

DIMAPUR — The Nagaland Public Rights Awareness and Action Forum (NPRAAF) on Sunday flayed the state Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) over several discrepancies in the implementation of works under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin).

In a press release on Sunday, the NPRAAF demanded that the state government initiate an inquiry headed by Chief Secretary or a retired judge and fix responsibility against the officials responsible.

Referring to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report for the year ending March 30, 2020, recently presented in the Legislative Assembly, the forum highlighted discrepancies in the execution of drainage works by the Executive Engineer, PHED (Urban) Dimapur Division. According to the release, fraudulent payments amounting to INR 90.54 lakh were made without actual execution of drainage works in 18 villages.

As per the CAG report, under SBM (Gramin), a total of INR 5.01 crore was allocated to the Executive Engineer (EE), PHED (Urban), Dimapur, out of which INR 4.03 crore was earmarked for implementation of Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM), including drainage.

Accordingly, the department was said to have constructed 6,540 m of drainage with bricks in 35 villages.

Despite claims that the works were completed in March 2019, joint physical verification (JPV) conducted in February 2021 in 21 villages revealed significant discrepancies in the actual execution of drainage projects. The CAG reported that construction of 600 m drainage with bricks, with an expenditure of INR 23.23 lakh was done as per work order in only three out of 21 villages.

In the remaining 18 villages, the JPV revealed that against the reported construction of 4,065 m drainage with an expenditure of INR 1.57 crore, only 1,727 m with an expenditure of INR 66.87 lakh was actually constructed, resulting in short/non-executions of 2,338 m.

In response, the government asserted in January 2022 that the shortage in drainage length resulted from flash floods or natural disasters, which washed away certain sections of the drainage. Additionally, the department explained that in some villages, drainage construction was ongoing during the verification period.

However, the CAG said that the reply was not acceptable as the works were certified by the JE PHED as completed (March 2019) and was also countersigned by the SDO and EE. “Moreover, the villages in Dimapur are located in plain areas which are not hilly and there is no sign of wash away or landslides. The Department also did not specify either the quantity or location of wash off area. Furthermore, no sign of wash off or work underway was seen and revealed during JPV,” it added.

Excess payment to contractor

Another case that the NPRAAF highlighted based on the CAG report was the excess payment of INR 1.23 crore to a contractor by allowing higher rate than the state government approved rate (Action Plan) for construction of community sanitary complexes (CSCs) and deviation from the approved action plans and specifications during actual implementation.

According to the CAG report, in October 2017, the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation sanctioned INR 35.13 crore as its share for the SBM (Gramin) implementation during 2017-18. Subsequently, in December 2017, the Nagaland Government released INR 39.03 crore (including state share) to the Chief Engineer-cum-Director, Water and Sanitation Support Organisation (WSSO), PHED.

While a Baseline Survey (BLS) was conducted only in 2012 for SBM  implementation in Nagaland, the CAG noted that except in Viswema village, the rate of INR 1,80,000 for CSC construction and INR 10,800 for individual household latrines (IHHL) were allowed for all other 43 villages under EE, PHED (Rural), Kohima, as per the approved Action Plan.

However, the reasons for providing CSCs at a higher rate, i.e., at INR 2.48 lakh per CSC in Viswema village, were not available in records, according to the CAG.

The CAG informed that the Director, WSSO, in December 2017 released the fund (INR 39.03 crore) to 12 PHED divisions, out of which an amount of INR 11.13 crore was allocated to EE, PHED (Rural), Kohima.

Out of the allocated amount, INR 10.21 crore was earmarked for the construction of 9,457 IHHLs, out of which INR 9.36 crore was designated for the construction of 8,664 IHHLs in 44 villages under EE, PHED (Rural), Kohima during 2017-18.

Among these villages, Viswema village (under Jakhama Block) was allocated INR 1.84 crore for construction of 1,700 IHHLs and the village was declared an open defecation free (ODF) village with effect from June 2018.

However, scrutiny of records in August 2019 revealed that the Chairman of Viswema Village Council requested the department in January 2018 to construct 200 CSCs instead of the allocated 1,700 IHHLs due to non-availability of land for IHHL construction in previous years.

Consequently, the Director (WSSO) approved the construction of 74 CSCs at the rate of INR 2.48 lakh per unit instead of the approved INR 1.80 lakh for CSC implementation in the state, and it was certified that the work was completed in March 2018, with INR 1.84 crore paid to the contractor.

Furthermore, a JPV conducted in July 2019 revealed deviations from the approved drawings/specifications in six out of 74 CSCs. It was also noticed that provisions for water supply connections were missing in all the CSCs inspected, among others.

These deviations resulted in a reduction of quantities for certain items of work, leading to an excess payment to the contractor amounting to INR 72.70 lakh, the CAG said.

The matter was reported to the state government in August 2021, and a reply is awaited as of May 2022, the CAG said.

In this connection, the forum demanded that the government initiate an inquiry, and also appealed to the public not to accept corruption as an established institution but to voice out against it.

NPRAAF would meet the Prime Minister and the Home Minister of India soon to apprise them of the massive corruption in the state and demand that principal investigating agencies establish an office in Nagaland to neutralise corruption, it added.