I had already posted on ‘cut-money,’ the malaise afflicting all political parties, and which was admitted dramatically by the CM of West Bengal during her meeting with thousands of Bengal’s Panchayat councillors. I needed to add a few lines and hence, this follow-up post.
Didi has also repeatedly stated earlier that nothing is unknown to her within the state, which I guess could include the deep percolated corruption in her party. There are posts from people claiming to be economists quoting a ballpark figure of the cut-money around Rs.30000 crores annually, which is based on the overall financial budget of West Bengal government amounting to Rs.2.94 lac minus the Rs.1.94 lakh crores on salary, pension and verifiable revenue expenses. On the balance of Rs. 1 lakh crores, the substantial earnings could be from the various capitalization expenses, where no admitted values of capital are created at all, or the assets created could be at a much-inflated cost than real.
The small portion of ‘cut-money’ amounting to a not a vast sum in comparison, from the few thousand crores doled out as various populist schemes and handled by rural-bodies is the real reason for the anger by the citizens, which has reflected in the recent poll results and alarmed the ruling party leadership.
The case of misappropriation of Rs.200 crores over a bridge built, where no river ever existed, led to the arrest of Gondala Kiran Kumar (IAS), the then Malda District Magistrate and former CEO of Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority by the Siliguri Police Commissioner K Jayaraman. The matter died a quiet death as Kumar was sent back to Andhra Pradesh, and the cop packed off to a ‘compulsory-waiting.’
More recently the DM of Birbhum, Moumita Godara Basu caught the Mathpalsa Panchayat siphoning off Rs.1.4 crores in the name of dug ponds, where no digging has ever been done. Perhaps the DM erred in her inspection, as another round of MGNREGA funds may have been spent in the coming months, the accounts showing ‘low-lands filled up.’
The PWD department in Tamil Nadu went into a tizzy when its contractors resorted to a lightning strike and put up a massive hoarding in front of the Government Secretariat, claiming that they have to be the lowest tenderers. Despite this, they got only 25% of the quoted sums but are often charge-sheeted for the poor quality of work and blacklisted too. They alleged that 25% goes to the CM, 25% to the PWD Minister and 25% to the department, which includes the Secretary. With alacrity the government invited the contractors and held a meeting ‘in-camera’ and sorted out their grievances, perhaps agreeing to soften the charge-sheets and blacklisting!
The gospel truth is, the government earns on its spending, which is essential for the maintenance of its thousands of cadres. If there are yet no riots demanding employment, it is because the political parties have become the largest employers, many times bigger than the Indian Railways. It may be a near impossible task to push the genie into the lamp, whether in West Bengal or elsewhere.
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix
