Indore: West Discom ‘admits’ to scam in IPDS, seeks recovery of Rs 3.5 cr from a contractor

Indore: With admitting to a scam in Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), Madhya Pradesh Western Region Power Distribution Company has issued a recovery notice of about Rs 3.5 crore to Kshema Power and Infrastructure Company, which was the contractor of the project in two divisions of the city. Besides, notices have also been served on 13 officers and engineers of West Discom in connection with the scam.

News reports had exposed corruption in the Central government's IPDS scheme in February. The company had started the investigation into a complaint filed by advocate Abhijit Pandey on the matter. Indore-1 MLA Sanjay Shukla had raised a question in the Assembly over the issue, but the company in its reply to the House said that it had received no complaint regarding scam in IPDS.

Based on its IPDS reports, the power company has issued notices to 13 engineers and former officers of two divisions.

In the notices, it has been said that papers show that pillars were constructed and lines were installed but in many areas the same was not found.

On June 2, the recovery notices were also sent to the operators of Kshema Power Company based in Cochin and Uttarakhand. However, even after the expiry of the notice period, the recovery process has not yet been initiated.

Why no probe in other 3 divisions?

In total five divisions of the city, three different companies did the work of IPDS. The power company did the verification only in two divisions North and South and gave notices to the responsible contract agency. The Kshema Company worked in both these divisions. While two other contract companies, namely Primus and Vikrant worked in three divisions, where investigation has not been done as yet.

The 13 officers who got the notice include the current superintendent of the city Kamesh Shrivastava along with the retired former officers. After the notice, some officials have filed petitions in court. The question has been raised that the company targeted lower officials to save big officials like the project director who sanctioned the money in the scheme.