Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Former chief minister and Rajya Sabha member Digvijay Singh has demanded an inquiry into the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) scam that took place under the very nose of the Madhya Pradesh Western Region Power Distribution Company.
Singh has dashed off a letter to Union power minister Rajkumar Singh bringing a complaint related to the IPDS scam—which took place in Indore and Ujjain division—to his knowledge.
“The complainant claims that the West Discom isn’t investigating the matter involving works worth Rs 230 crore fairly… I request you to get the matter probed and issue instructions to the officers concerned accordingly,” Singh’s letter reads.
Free Press had exposed the IPDS scam in Indore district. Admitting the scam, West Discom had 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.
However, that was just an eyewash as, one after another, corruption cases in implementation of the central government-funded scheme continued to surface. Major financial irregularities had come to light from Dewas, too, in implementation of the scheme.
After repeated follow-up stories on the IPDS scam, West Discom transferred six officials and suspended one and swept the matter under the carpet.
Whistle-blower and advocate Abhijit Pandey, who had lodged a complaint into the matter, alleged that electricity officials hand-in-glove with private contracting companies had sold materials, including transformers, poles and cables bought under the scheme, to colonisers or contractors.
The bills of private contracting companies were passed on their claim that the materials were installed in the city and settlements. But the fact remained that items purchased under the scheme were sold to colonisers or contractors and existing old items were painted as new.
“I’ve handed over all the documents related to the scam to Digvijaya Singh. After that, Singh wrote a letter to the Union minister and raised the demand for investigation,” Pandey said.
