Ashok Parmar, a 1992 batch IAS of AGMUT cadre, posted in Jammu and Kashmir has moved the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) accusing Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and chief secretary Arun Mehta of harassment and humiliation on the ground of him being a whistleblower and a dalit officer.
Parmar, currently posted as chairman of Bureau of Public Enterprises, said that the Lt Governor and chief secretary are harassing and intimidating him because he had highlighted irregularities in implementation of Jal Jeevan Misison during his earlier posting as principal secretary Jal Jeevan Mission in May 2022.
Parmar, a native of Gujarat, also alleged that he is a victim of frequent transfers because of him being a dalit officer.
In his complaint, Parmar has written to the commission that both LG and chief secretary have humiliated him publicly in meetings in front of other officers. He alleged that LG Manoj Sinha, on June 6, 2022, had “thrown” him out of the meeting room with the objective to harass and humiliate him without any fault and this was done in front of all the administrative secretaries of UT of J&K.
Similarly, the chief secretary Arun Kumar Mehta also on July 25 2023 humiliated and shown him the door in a meeting of the committee of secretaries without any fault and he has been subjected to frequent transfers in violation of the transfer policy of the government of India.
Parmar in his complaint has further alleged that he intimated L-G Manoj Sinha, Chief Secretary Mehta and Advisor to LG RR Bhatnagar about the “dismal status of implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission.
In a letter dated 20 July, 2022 , he had put it on record that Jal Jeevan Mission is being implemented in J&K without doing SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis.
Later in the meeting dated 2 August 2022, he pointed out that works on account of JJM are slow because of erroneous and faulty procedure for allotment of works by misinterpreting the clause 4.5.2 of Manual of Procurement of Works, 2019 that one contractor can be awarded only 2 works at a time and DG Code confirmed that this clause is only valid for petty works to promote Startups and is not applicable to general works/tenders.
The IAS officer has also alleged that the complainant being a Scheduled Caste IAS Officer has apprehensions that LG J&K and chief secretary might go to any extent to damage his reputation and career by implicating him in false cases as he had pointed out many financial irregularities and acts of omission and commission of chief secretary Mehta, advisor to LG RR Bhatnagar and others in the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission.
In the letter, Paramar has written that he had intimated the Prime Minister's Office, Home Ministry and ministry of Jal Shakti about the J&K officers giving “false, concocted, misleading and factually incorrect figures regarding implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).
The BuckStopper, run by a group of seasoned journalists, holds the powerful accountable. The buck stops with them, as they cannot shrug off their official responsibilities.
