Patwari

‘Most Scams Under Shivraj Govt in Schemes for Poor’: Congress Candidate and Whistleblower

Paras Saklecha is the Congress’s candidate for the Ratlam constituency. He tells The Wire that corruption is among the top three issues that would count against the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh.

New Delhi: “Shivraj Sarkar ka matlab hi 50% commission hain.” (The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government is synonymous with 50% commission). Printed in saffron font, this one-line indictment of the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh was part of the preface to a document released by its rival Congress, listing the incumbent’s alleged scams in its 18 years in power. With a copy of this placard in hand, the Congress’s chief minister candidate Kamal Nath in August released an Aarop Patra (chargesheet) of alleged corruption and scams under the Chouhan government. The document was titled “Ghotala hi Ghotala–Ghotala seth, 50% commission rate,” a direct dig at Chouhan, who is described as ‘Lootera Mama’.

Standing alongside Nath at the release was a wavy-haired man with a geeky appearance who has often been at the forefront of the fight against corruption in the state: Paras Saklecha. He played a significant role in drafting the Congress’s ‘chargesheet’ against Chouhan, one that has underlined corruption as a major point of attack in the party’s campaign against the BJP.

A mathematics tutor-cum-politician, Saklecha is a former independent MLA. He joined the Congress in 2018, months before the state voted that year. In the 2023 assembly election, the Congress has fielded him from Ratlam, a constituency in the Malwa region. Saklecha, fondly referred to as dada (elder brother) by students, argues that corruption was among the top three issues that count go against the Chouhan government in the November 17 election.

“They will face heavy losses due to their corruption, which has increased at all levels. There is corruption everywhere in the state, whether you have to get any enrolment done or want an Ayushman Bharat card or BPL coupon made. The administration is unrestrained,” he said.

Talking to The Wire, Saklecha alleged that an overwhelmingly high number of alleged corruption scams in MP had taken place in welfare schemes for the poor.

“They were supposed to bolster the financial condition of the poor. But that did not happen. Instead, the mafia swallowed all the funds,” he said.

The Congress’s Aarop Patra mentions over 225 “scams” under the Chouhan government, including charges of direct financial irregularities along with instances of misgovernance and mismanagement.

At the top of the list is the alleged Poshan Ahar ‘scam’ related to the supplementary nutrition scheme run by the government’s Women and Child Development Department. Citing a report by the Accountant General, the Congress has said that vehicles mentioned as trucks meant to distribute ration under the scheme, were found to be motorcycles, autos and tractors. The Congress also alleged that 11,000 metric tonnes of take-home ration was distributed to beneficiaries only on paper.

Also featured in the Congress chargesheet is the alleged irregularity in the recruitment of contractual nursing staff under the National Health Mission. The recruitment process of the scheme came under the scanner earlier this year after the exam paper was leaked. The exams were held for recruitment on 2,284 posts, for which 45,000 candidates were to appear.

While the embers of the infamous “Vyapam Scam” in Chouhan’s previous terms have gradually died out, fresh allegations in the recruitment process of Patwaris (revenue department staffers) have rocked the government. The matter, labelled the “Patwari Recruitment Scam” by the Congress, came to light after it was found that seven out of the top 10 candidates who had taken the online examination for the recruitment came from the same exam centre in Gwalior, a college run by a BJP MLA. Facing a demand by the Congress for a CBI inquiry, Chouhan in July put a stay on the appointment of the qualified candidates. The Congress chargesheet also includes allegations of irregularities in the state’s mid-day meal scheme, Anganwadi department, distribution of tap water, para medical scholarship, sale of tribal land, illegal mining and the shoddy construction of the Mahakal Lok Corridor in Ujjain, where statues of Saptarishis were damaged due to gusty winds in May.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Photo: Twitter/@ChouhanShivraj

Saklecha says in addition to the long list of corruption charges, the concerning issue of unemployment and the manner in which the BJP overthrew the Congress government through the defection of almost two dozen MLAs in 2020, would play heavily in the minds of the voters.

In 2018, the Congress caused a major upset as it emerged as the largest party in the MP assembly, winning 114 out of 230 seats. Though it fell short of a majority, it formed a government with the support of four independent MLAs, two Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs and one Samajwadi Party MLA. This mandate, read with the huge downward swing in the seat tally of the incumbent BJP from 165 to 109, was an indication that the people voted to overthrow the BJP government after 15 years of its rule, says Saklecha.

“But when the BJP formed the government again through defections, the voters felt cheated. There is huge anger among them regarding this betrayal. That’s why in this election, they will vote against BJP with twice the strength and hurt those who hurt their votes. This is going in favour of the Congress.”

The issue of unemployment linked with the various irregularities in the recruitment process of various jobs has also put the Chouhan government on the back foot from time to time.

While other whistle-blowers gained much of the limelight in highlighting irregularities in the Vyapam Scam in 2014 and 2015, Saklecha was probably the first legislator to raise the subject in the state assembly way back in 2009. He was then an independent MLA.

Over the years, Saklecha has consistently filed RTIs and petitions and dug out key documents regarding the case, which is still being probed by the CBI. In 2015, he even published a 100-page detailed summary of the scam, ‘Vyapamgate,’ details from which were later used by the Congress to level corruption charges against Chouhan.

In 2014, he submitted a 340-page document to the CBI after the agency put out an advertisement asking the public who had complaints regarding the Vyapam recruitment scam to send documents and letters. However, nine years later, the scrutiny of his documents is still on, says Saklecha, who recently approached the Madhya Pradesh high court seeking information about the status of the probe.

Given that Saklecha has a sound footing in finances and a record of raising corruption issues inside and outside the assembly, his candidature from Ratlam has drawn interest. The BJP won the Ratlam seat in 2013 and 2018.

Saklecha started out as a bank clerk, parallelly coaching students preparing for railways and bank exams. A gold medal winner in physics and a brilliant mathematician—his formulas are taught in the Hindi belt—Saklecha is also a poet and writer. In 1999, he was elected as the mayor of Ratlam, a result of his popularity for running free coaching centres for students. In 2003, he contested the assembly election for the first time but lost in a close fight to the BJP’s Himmat Kothari, who would go on to become the state’s home minister. In 2008, Saklecha won his only election. In 2014, he contested the Lok Sabha election as an Aam Aadmi Party candidate from Mandsaur but lost.

Vyapam 2.0? Allegations of Recruitment Scam Resurface in Madhya Pradesh.

What has raised eyebrows is the fact that seven of the 10 toppers in the recruitment examination for Group 2 posts are from a nondescript examination centre in Gwalior.

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh Employees Selection Board (ESB) found itself in controversy once again after fresh allegations of large-scale rigging in recruitment scams. This has raised fears that the ESB, which was formerly known as Vyapam, is once again riddled with systematic fraud.

What has raised eyebrows is the fact that seven of the 10 toppers in the recruitment examination for Group 2 posts like patwari (a revenue official) are from a nondescript examination centre in Gwalior. Called the NRI College of Engineering and Management, it is owned by BJP MLA Sanjeev Kumar Kushwaha from Bhind.

Nearly 9.80 lakh candidates took the test, conducted in March and April this year across Madhya Pradesh. The ESB announced the results on June 30 and the names of the top 10 scorers on July 10. This is when allegations about rigging emerged.

The board that conducted the test has started examining CCTV footage and the computer logs of the centre where the seven toppers wrote the exam.

While opposition parties are demanding an independent probe into the matter, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government has denied any irregularities in the recruitment test. The state’s home minister and government spokesperson Narottam Mishra ruled out any irregularities and accused the Congress of trying to “mislead” people ahead of the scheduled assembly polls in the state later this year.

He said that nearly 120 participants have cleared the exam at that particular centre. “Why are questions being raised about only seven toppers? The Congress is trying to mislead the people with its propaganda,” Mishra said.

But this very fact, former Union minister and Congress leader Arun Yadav says, is suspicious. He said that so many aspirants qualifying from one centre is reminiscent of past scams.

The Congress is also making comparisons to the multi-layered Vyapam scam that rocked the nation exactly a decade ago for its sheer magnitude and macabre nature. The recruitment-cum-examination fraud that surfaced in July 2013 involved a mind-boggling number of politicians, bureaucrats, middlemen, impersonators and job aspirants. They were found to be complicit in an organised racket that manipulated in myriad ways the processes of various recruitment and pre-medical tests conducted by the Professional Examination Board or Vyavasayik Pariksha Mandal (Vyapam) since 2008 to rake in the moolah. Nearly 45 persons related to the scam died under mysterious circumstances.

Although the state government renamed the infamous Vyapam as Employees Service Board to avoid the notoriety its name evoked, allegations of scams in the recruitments conducted by the body have kept surfacing.

Arun Yadav alluded to this, saying, “The name of Vyapam has changed thrice over the years. But the corruption continues unabated.”

In recent years, the recruitments of nursing staff, school teachers, constables and agriculture development officers have attracted similar allegations of rigging but the Chouhan government brazened them out.

However, three tests – agriculture extension officers, senior agriculture officers and nursing staff in 2021 – had to be cancelled by the government because the scam appeared too glaring to ignore. The tests were mired in controversy after marks secured by the 10 toppers in the agriculture extension officers’ exam were found nearly identical and they all committed the same errors in their exam. Chief minister Chouhan ordered an inquiry, which showed that the paper was leaked by the private company which was contracted to conduct the exams. The company had already been mired in controversies due to the Vyapam case.

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty

Congress cries foul

In the latest Patwari recruitment test too, there is a strong suspicion that the question paper may have been leaked. Congress leader Arun Yadav has pointed out alleged inconsistencies in the recruitment process. Some of these, he said, were:

The top scorers belonged to a minuscule fraction of the total examinees, their roll numbers ranging from 2488 7991 to 2488 9693, from a pool of roughly 1,700 candidates. Considering that 9.8 lakh individuals took the exam, the odds of such a coincidence are highly suspicious
The answer sheets of the toppers reveal that they signed their exam forms in Hindi but answered the papers in English.
These candidates accurately answered 15 questions which were later cancelled by the ESB because incorrect options were provided as answers. No marks were awarded for these questions.
One of the seven toppers scored 185 marks. With the ESB removing 15 questions, it meant that the candidate got 100% marks.
In the body-marking column (in the answer sheet), one selected candidate wrote in English: ‘Cut on mark nose’; whereas the correct English would be ‘cut mark on nose’’. Arun Yadav wondered how she got 100% marks in English.

The Congress has demanded a CBI probe into the scam, alleging the involvement of BJP leaders in it.

BJP MLA Sanjeev Kumar Kushwaha, whose college in Gwalior is in the eye of the controversy, was elected on a BSP ticket but later joined the ruling party.

When contacted, Kushwaha told the Indian Express: “This institution belongs to me. It used to be an engineering college, which shut down because of low admissions. It has a computer lab and other facilities which are now used as a test centre. We rent out the place for conducting examinations. This (patwari) examination is conducted by the Employees Selection Board (ESB), you should ask them what happened.”

Former chief minister Kamal Nath stated that there have been large-scale irregularities in the recruitment examinations in the state. “Scams have engulfed recruitment exams such as nursing, constable, agriculture extension officers, and many others,” he said.

It’s Festive Season in Poll-Bound Chhattisgarh as Ruling Party Hands out Freebies

If the distribution of land deeds translates into votes, Raman Singh may be looking at an unprecedented fourth term. But best laid out plans have a queer way of going awry in the bustle of Indian elections.

Gariyaband, Chhattisgarh: In remote Naxalite-bound Gariyaband, a stage has been set up for mantriji to play Santa Claus. He is not wearing Santa’s usual red coat – he is in a saffron bandi – but he has gifts for everyone. You want a pressure cooker? Here. You need a helmet? Here, this is yours. Janata is clamouring for more. ‘Free’, after all, is the most-loved word in the country. The list of semi-expensive items of daily use contains gas stoves, umbrellas, shoes and sewing machines. Santa-Mantriji hands them out cheerily as if he is aiming to become a Jain monk himself after sharing his wealth.

That, of course, is as far from truth as Pluto from here. It is all government’s cash supposed to be spent on public welfare but being used to net votes. It is not clear which part of the constitution allows such jamborees, but it has become commonplace in Chhattisgarh, which votes in two phases on November 12 and 20. Everything from mobile phones to land pattas and cash for housing for the poor was being distributed with a flourish till the very last hour before the election dates were declared on October 6. The smiling face of chief minister Raman Singh is ubiquitous, from the land pattas to requisition forms for mobile phones and free housing.

The mobile phones are bursting during recharge and the pressure cookers are fun. But the land pattas – these are serious business. Gariyaband is one of the districts in the state where pattas for people living on abaadi land for generations had not been given. Abaadi land is actually government land on which towns or villages come up over generations and is to be understood as separate from the land that can be bought, sold and registered. Without a patta, the hold over land is tenuous. And people in any case love to hold a title deed.

A policy decision was taken in this regard by revenue minister Prem Prakash Pandey around three years ago that pattas be distributed to existing occupants of abaadi land. The basis for the decision was manifold: Pandey’s main aim was to raise his department’s revenue-earning capacity. At present, people living on abaadi land, especially in scheduled areas, are unable to register sale of their land. Land or housing deals of unregistered abaadi land do not produce much revenue for the government. With a patta, ownership title becomes clear and in due course one can sell or purchase the land. Another important reason was that, places like Gariyaband that have recently become Nagar Palika do not have a tax structure based on square footage as in planned towns. Once the land is measured and recorded, tax collection would go up.

While the mobile phones are bursting during recharge and the pressure cookers are fun, the land pattas are a serious business.

The whole process takes a long time, as land in each revenue village has to be measured and ownership ascertained. Patwaris and revenue officers have to dig into their records and come up with accurate drawings based on ground realities and then put it on paper – nowadays on computer and Google-aided revenue maps. The process was begun three years ago, and it has culminated just in time for Raman Singh and the BJP to claim credit. Patta is being distributed like gold, and the recipients might feel obliged until they realise that they have actually brought themselves into the tax net.

The distribution of pattas has been tried before too as an election stunt, most noticeably by Arjun Singh in the 1980s. He may as well be credited with having invented the patta politics. He distributed pattas to all jhuggi dwellers in all major towns in MP, especially Bhopal. The distribution was so indiscriminate and rampant that JJ clusters near the mantralaya also profited. They have now become a problem for urban planners.

During his tenure as chief minister, Ajit Jogi also gave away pattas, which began to be referred to as Jogi Pattas. These were given on all types of land – nazul, forest and abaadi. But the process itself takes so long that in his short tenure of two-and-a-half years, he could not reap the benefit of his own scheme. Raman Singh did not try this trick during his first two terms, as he focused on distributing free salt, rice and pulses. He came to be known as Chaur Baba – Rice Santa. But the novelty of free rice and food guarantee programme has naturally faded after 15 years. In fact, in some areas of the state, it has become counter-productive where people are selling their one-rupee-a-kilo rice for Rs 15 and using the money to buy liquor, which is also sold through government shops.

An internal assessment of the BJP has concluded that free mobile phones with data given under the SKY scheme may not get the expected advantage, but the patta and the Pradhan Mandtri Awas Yojana have won over households. If this translates into votes, Raman Singh may be looking at an unprecedented fourth term. But best laid out plans have a queer way of going awry in the bustle of Indian elections.

Neeraj Mishra is a senior journalist who has covered elections in central India for more than two decades.