PHED accused of funds misappropriation

Our Correspondent

Kohima, Dec. 12 (EMN): The Nagaland Pradesh Youth Congress (NPYC) on Wednesday levelled allegations against the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), for “misappropriation of funds” and poor implementation of various rural developmental schemes under the department.

Addressing a press conference at Congress Bhavan in Kohima on December 11, president of NPYC Vilhousilie Kenguruse claimed that the fund for water supply to 24 villages under Kohima district was “totally misused”.

The work implementation by the department under Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) scheme, where 24 villages under rural development block Chiephobozou are to be provided with water supply, is not even 60% completed, he stated.

On filing Right to Information (RTI), it was found out that 90% of the sanctioned money had been given to contractors, and the timeline for completion of the project was in 2012. The PHED had written to ‘higher-ups’ that the work will be completed by 2018, yet the project could not be completed till date, Kenguruse said.

The total cost of the project is INR 29 crore, out of which INR 26, 26, 41,000, was sanctioned by the Centre. In addition, the department even received INR 34.56 lakh from the state share. However, “when we see (checked) the work implementation, it was not according to what the sanction (fund) they have received,” he said.

Last August, the department’s decision to commission the water treatment plant and balancing reservoir, located at Zhadima village, was stopped by the residents as the project was incomplete. The president expressed shock at the minister of PHED, Jacob Zhimomi, who inaugurated the site, “without completing the project”.

He said that the NPYC is filing a case with Lokayukta, hoping that it will deliver justice to the 24 villages. They are expecting the anti-corruption ombudsman to deliver justice in 10 days’ time. ‘If Lokayukta cannot give us justice, then Lokayukta needs to be removed from Nagaland so that we can file a PIL,’ the Congress youth leader said.

The NPYC also raised another issue — Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), which the Public Works Department (PWD) had recently issued a tender invitation. Kenguruse said the government should follow the central vigilance commission’s guidelines on the scheme, and not as per the department’s guidelines. 

“A representation was written to the chief minister to rectify the tender but instead of rectifying it, they just went ahead with the process. Thus, the NPYC will also be filing a case against PWD with the Lokayukta,” he added.

Apart from these, the NPYC also queried on Zaru river project which is implemented by the PHED at INR 46 crore. The project is aimed at providing water facility to the denizens of Kohima town. According to the public account committee report, the timeline for completion of the project was December 2019. The NPYC urged the authority to complete the project so that people of Kohima get sufficient water and not face water scarcity.

Another similar project, the NPYC mentioned, was the Mitelephe project for providing water supply to Mitelephe village in Kohima district. The total cost of the project is said to be INR 44 crore and is supposed to be completed by December 2019.

The NPYC also said that national rural drinking water programme that is mainly focussed on equipping the rural areas with rooftop rainwater harvesting, bore-well and other facilities is “half complete”. So, it has asked the government to set up a committee to enquire into the matter.

The Congress youth wing also alleged that PHED could not implement Swachh Bharat in a “proper way” due to misuse of funds.