Karnataka govt mulls streamlined probe into irregularities instead of multiple committees

The state government is considering probing select works that are riddled with irregularities instead of constituting multiple committees to find fault in every project of the BBMP.

The initial plan of forming separate teams to investigate different departments of the BBMP has been junked, sources told DH.

Over the last two weeks, the Congress — which went to town with 40 per cent corruption allegations during the BJP tenure — has been vocal about probing works that were taken up during the Basavaraj Bommai-led government. On its part, the BJP has also challenged the Congress to prove the allegations.

Officials said the government has made its intent clear that the probe will be held.

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“The probe will only be ordered on projects that are taken up shoddily, upon receiving a complaint, or upon detecting visible signs of irregularities. There is no plan or a proposal to constitute multiple teams to probe every project as it could take several years and may hamper the administration,” a top government source told DH.

An unsigned letter, purportedly from the deputy chief minister’s office to the Urban Development Department (UDD), had suggested setting up five teams, each headed by an IAS officer, to probe BBMP’s different departments.

It, however, did not garner any support, including from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, as it suggested reviewing the tender conditions and quality of works executed in the last four years.

Rural Development Minister Priyank Kharge had said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar would decide on forming a Special Investigation Team to investigate the scams under the BJP government.

Probe vindictive?

Some IAS officers denied being part of the committee as it was “vindictive” and may not see any “logical conclusion”.

Stating that the proposal has been junked, a few wondered why the government would invest five teams to probe just one municipality when almost all departments of the government were charged with corruption allegations.