Probe finds Rs15-crore panchayat fund scam

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Kalanaur (Gurdaspur), Feb 7

The Kalanaur gram panchayat, which is the biggest panchayat of the state in terms of landholding, has come under the scanner of the rural development officials. They have came across a Rs 15.61-crore fraud allegedly perpetuated by a former Block Development and Panchayat Officer (BDPO) in connivance with a former SAD sarpanch, who remained the village head for 10 years.

When Gurdaspur Additional Development Commissioner (Development) Jagwinderjit Singh Sandhu started an inquiry into the matter following a complaint filed by a group of villagers, the embezzlement looked to be miniscule in nature. However, as the probe went on, it was found that the scam ran into several crores of rupees, stunning the officials holding the inquiry.

Investigators focused on the income and expenses of the panchayat, which owes 1,504 acres of the cultivable land over the last 10 years.

The ADC has indicted former BDPO Ram Lubhaya, currently posted on the same post at Bhogpur, former SAD sarpanch Harkirat Singh Padda and several middle-rung rural development officials.

“The officials and the sarpanch allegedly siphoned off crores of rupees from the panchayat’s income flowing in from various sources. The magnitude of the embezzlement turned out to be so large that I had to take the help of the Gurdaspur Zila Parishad Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Parampal Singh, and the BDPOs of Dorangla and Kalanaur, Suresh Kumar and Gurpreet Singh, respectively, to complete the probe,” the ADC added.

Sources claimed that more skeletons would tumble out of the scope if the investigation was widened to include all panchayats of the state ruled by the SAD sarpanches in the last 10 years.

The probe has found that, from 2007 till 2017, the Kalanaur panchayat accumulated Rs 26.12 crore as income from the cultivation of the panchayat land, rent of shops owned by the panchayat and interest accruing from the deposits lying in various banks.

“Of this amount, Rs 15.61 crore has been siphoned off by Ram Lubhaya, Padda and other officials. Rules such as taking technical sanction, administrative approval and preparing estimates have also been flouted. For construction works, there is a measurement book, which has to be completed. Even this was not done,” the inquiry report read.

Ram Ludhaya, when contacted, said the inquiry report did not hold water. “A probe against me was held in 2015 and on January 14, 2016, the department cleared me of all charges,” he added.

“The probe has set the cat among the pigeons with SAD sarpanches now scurrying for cover,” said Dera Baba Nanak sitting Congress MLA Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa. Kalanaur forms a part of his Assembly seat.

Inquiry report 

“From 2007 till 2017, the Kalanaur panchayat accumulated Rs 26.12-crore income from the cultivation of the panchayat land, rent of shops owned by the panchayat and interest accruing from the deposits lying in various banks. Of this, Rs 15.61 crore has been siphoned off by BDPO Ram Lubhaya, SAD sarpanch Harkirat Singh Padda and other officials.”