Meghnagar/ Jhabua (Madhya Pradesh): The controversy over the purchase of sports items at the government primary and middle schools has gotten murkier with members of the parents-teachers association from many schools exposing an alleged scam in the purchase of sports equipment.
Meanwhile, when the matter was brought to the notice of District collector Somesh Mishra he ordered an inquiry in the matter. The additional collector has released the order according to which Joint Collector Sunil Jha has been asked to submit an inquiry report within the next three days.
This tribal-dominated area is already under the lens for a number of alleged scams including irregularities in school uniform supply, operation of illegal bio-diesel pumps, illegal asphalt plots all courtesy of babus and political leaders who are exploiting government funds meant for poor tribals in the area to cater to their own interest.
The latest scam to be added to this list of scams relates to the purchase of sports equipment at 2402 government primary and middle schools in the district.
According to information, Jhabua district has a total of 1977 primary and 425 middle schools and as per government instructions, every primary and middle school gets Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 for the purchase of sports equipment respectively. As per the rules, this sports equipment has to be purchased through the parents teachers association (PTA) and its payment is to be made from the PTA account.
But, the block resource coordinator has been making the payment directly to the suppliers from Bhopal-based department accounts citing the non-availability of PTA's zero balance account.
Additionally, the officials have sanctioned a budget for purchase of sports equipment for the academic session which already passed. The total amount sanctioned for the purchase of sports equipment from class 1 to 5 stands at around Rs 1.41 crore and now dozens of suppliers and babus are eying this fund.
Questions about quantity and quality
Adding to the financial irregularities, many parents and guardians have questioned the quality and quantity of equipment. In the last couple of days, the photographs of materials supplied to the schools have gone viral on social media.
In every primary school, a total of 13 items are to be purchased, including one kit bag, one height measuring scale, one digitized scale, a set of tennis balls, three plastic balls, a small carom board, 3 Ludo boards, one ring, one cricket bat and the department is supposed to pay Rs 5,000 for these items.
Many locals claimed that the sports equipment supplied to the primary schools hardly costs between Rs 1,800 to Rs 2,000.
Similarly, the sports equipment supplied to the middle schools are actually valued at around Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500, but the government is paying Rs 10,000 to the suppliers. The question is why are government officials acting like mute spectators?
Who said what?
When contacted Mangalasinh Nayak, Block Resource Coordinator of Meghnagar said that they were asked to purchase sports material up to Rs 5,000 for primary and Rs 10,000 for middle school. They will have to submit the bill to the BRC office after purchasing these sports items from any shop. After which the overall payment will be done from Bhopal.
On the other hand, Ralusinh Singar, District Project Coordinator of Jhabua said that there is no information about the supply of poor quality sports material in any of the schools. Singar added that if this is happening, it will be verified and evaluated and suitable action will be taken in the matter.
