Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Oct 9: The Vigilance department of Directorate of Doordarshan, New Delhi today sought explanation from 24 senior officers of the Doordarshan Kendra (DDK) Srinagar, including its Director and former Director in multi-crore scam.
The show-cause notices were delivered to 24 senior officers of the DDK, Srinagar along with a questionnaire seeking detailed explanation of around 400 programmes worth around Rs 40 crore that were produced in-house but illegally outsourced since 2009. Sources said that 19 show-cause notices were handed over to the officials in the DDK Srinagar while 5 notices were sent to residences of 4 retired officials and one to former Director Shami Shair.
Those against whom show-cause notices were issued include Director Doordarshan, Qayoom Wadera, former Director who was attached last month to DD Directorate in New Delhi following corruption charges and mis-appropriation of funds, Shami Shair and former Deputy Director Zeeshan Fazil.
The trio was Deputy Director Programmes when they had illegally outsourced the in-house programmes to private producers from whom they have allegedly received advance payment as corruption while the money has not been drawn in favour of them yet.
Those from whom the DD Vigilance has sought explanation are 3 Deputy Director Programmes, programme executives, floor managers, editors and cameramen of the DDK, Srinagar.
In the show cause notices they have been asked to respond to the questionnaire in 15 days and have been warned of proceedings against them in case they fail to submit the reply on time. Through the questionnaire, they have been asked to furnish details about the sanction of such programmes for outsourcing and reasons for outsourcing.
Sources said that the DDK, Srinagar officials have outsourced in-house programmes to get monitory benefits when there was no such requirement of outsourcing as the various facilities were available in the DDK, Srinagar. Around 80 private producers are the beneficiaries of these chat shows, musical programmes, fictions and documentaries which have been produced between 2009 and 2012.
The show-cause notices come, a month after a two member team of CBI raided DDK, Srinagar last month. The DD team was looking for records pertaining to various programmes that were produced and telecast in DDK, Srinagar since 2008.
The audit team of DD New Delhi comprising a Deputy Director and Section Officer had taken photocopies of all relevant records pertaining to production and telecast of programmes from DDK since 2008 two days before Shami Shair was removed as Director DDK, Srinagar.
The team is investigating the multi-crore fraud in which former Director DDK Shami Shair, present Director Qayoom Wadera, former Deputy Director Zeeshan Fazili and 12 other producers of the DDK Srinagar are allegedly involved. These producers had done the alleged fraud in league with the former Director DDK, Rafiq Masoodi, who was Deputy Director General (DDG) DD at New Delhi was suspended in July this year following the findings of his alleged involvement in multi-crore scam by DD Vigilance.
Sources said that there is back-log of around Rs 30 crore of telecast programmes and around Rs 10 crore of produced programmes that are yet to be telecast.
Sources said that the DD audit team that took programme records last month has found the producers in league with the directors have shown hundreds of in-house productions since 2010 when actually these programmes were illegally outsourced by the majority of the DDK Srinagar producers.
The audit team has reportedly found that DDK, Srinagar has no records about the shooting of these in-house programmes in DDK Srinagar or their post production done inside DDK Srinagar. The producers have neither shown these programmes shot and edited by using hired equipment. The team has, however, reportedly found that producers have shown huge amounts spent under different heads by these producers.
It may be mentioned here that CEO Prasar Bharti, Jawahar Sircar had said in July this year during an annual conference of the North Zone officers of the official electronic media at SKICC Srinagar that DDK, Srinagar had become a hub of corruption. He had assured that he will clear the mess and those responsible will not be spared. Since then action has been taken against two former Directors. Former Director Rafiq Masoodi was suspended and ex-Director Shami Shair was attached and several other Producers and Deputy Directors are in soup.
Masoodi was suspended for misappropriation of funds amounting to crores of rupees, allotting contracts without proper sanction and projection of wrong facts regarding engagement of casual labours at DDK Srinagar. Besides this, a Departmental inquiry had found that he had allegedly purchased 9000 segments for DD’s Current Affairs morning show in 2009 and 2010.
The Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) is also investigating the case.
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