Rather snubs Minister on JJM

Excelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Sept 30: Legislative Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather today ruled that only Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) schemes against which complaints have been received should be investigated, while work on the remaining schemes should continue and contractors be paid.

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"Where there is no complaint, the schemes should be completed. There is no need to investigate them. Work should go on and contractors should be paid," Rather said while intervening during a discussion on the report of the House Committee constituted to probe alleged irregularities in the implementation of JJM in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Speaker said schemes against which complaints had already been received should be investigated and any fresh complaints raised by members should also be examined.

The ruling came after Jal Shakti Minister Javeed Ahmad Rana opposed a blanket audit of all schemes and proposed that only schemes identified by the House Committee or those about which members had raised concerns be subjected to a comprehensive audit.

Rana said a blanket audit would amount to "yet another probe" and could result in further delays in the execution of JJM schemes.

He proposed that the flagged schemes be verified through the respective Deputy Commissioners by teams comprising technical and financial experts. "No further payments would be allowed in such schemes until the audit was completed," he said.

At the same time, Rana said funding and execution of schemes where no issues had been reported should be allowed to continue. "I therefore propose that only the schemes identified by the committee or any Member having issues be subjected to the comprehensive audit," he said.

Regarding the procurement of pipes, the Minister said that the procurements were made in accordance with the financial powers under S.O. 15 of 2020.

Rana said a complaint relating to the procurement had already been examined by the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the matter was closed as unsubstantiated and there is no need for another committee on the same issue.

The Minister further said the department did not consider the high-level committees recommended by the House Committee necessary. "The schemes flagged by the committee, or those concerning which members had raised issues, could instead be verified by technical and financial teams," he said.

Rana said the department would also examine other recommendations of the committee and take necessary steps to address the concerns raised.

The Minister concluded by proposing that no further action be taken by the House on the recommendations and that the matter be treated as closed.

On this, the Speaker snubbed the Minister and accused him of contempt of the House.

"The question is that you are saying the whole matter should be treated as closed is a contempt of the House," he said.

"I am telling that Members have not even spoken, every one wants to speak on the issue. Let the members speak and you tell me this, it is not the time (for closure)".

Rather objected to the government's position on complaints raised by legislators from areas that had not been visited by the committee. "The Member has said that we have complaints in our area as well. The committee has not come there. We have to give them an opportunity to complain," he said.

The Speaker directed the department concerned to submit an action-taken report on the recommendations of the House Committee. "If the department is asked to give an action-taken report, tell them what to say. That is enough. But you have to give an action-taken report," he said.

Earlier, House Committee chairman Justice (retd.) Hasnain Masoodi made a statement on the committee's report, which was presented in the Assembly on Sept. 21.

Masoodi recalled that the Jal Jeevan Mission was launched with the objective of providing every household with tap water, with the focus on ensuring safe and adequate drinking water.

He said Jammu and Kashmir was to receive around Rs. 11,000 crore under the mission, with the funding pattern being 90% from the Centre and 10% from Jammu and Kashmir.

The committee chairman said the original target was to provide safe drinking water to every household by 2024 and that the House Committee had been tasked with examining whether the mission was being implemented as intended.

According to Masoodi, 3,293 schemes were under execution in Jammu and Kashmir, including around 1,400 retrofitting schemes and about 1,800 new schemes.

He said the committee held nine meetings and sought inputs from various stakeholders, including the concerned department, whistleblowers and members of the public.

The committee also divided the schemes constituency-wise and conducted field surveys of selected schemes to determine whether irregularities existed and, if so, their extent and nature."We did a field survey to see if there really is a problem with the scheme, and if there is, then to what extent and how," Masoodi said.

He said the committee received information from stakeholders during the field exercise and found inaccuracies in records.

Masoodi said the committee's mandate was to probe alleged irregularities rather than merely conduct a general survey. "The important thing is that our mandate should be understood. What do you expect from a report?" he said, adding that the committee had examined the issue with the participation of senior members.

He said the committee included legislators from different parties and that its report was approved by the members before being submitted to the House.

Masoodi also highlighted concerns emerging from the field survey, including cases where water was not available despite the reported implementation of schemes.

Participating in the discussion, Peoples Conference MLA Sajad Lone pointed out that if House Committee continues to exist the central funding might stop.

The speaker replied, "There is no committee now."