Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Ghost Lullabies by Chandrani Banerjee

Ghost Lullabies by Chandrani Banerjee

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Dec 20, 2009   modified Modified on Dec 20, 2009

* A Rs 350 crore scam has surfaced in the Rajiv Gandhi National Creche Scheme
* Three organisations are being investigated by the vigilance department of the women WCD ministry for mismanagement and for running creches only on paper
* The scheme was for children of women in the unorganised sector
* The organisations maintained fake audits and balancesheets signed by CAs

Nothing, it would seem, is sacred for scamsters. So it is that a government project meant to provide shelter to the children of women working in the unorganised sector—the ambitious Rajiv Gandhi National Creche Scheme—has become a breeding ground for babus to hatch their nefarious designs on.

Three organisations—the Central Social Welfare Board (CSWD) and NGOs Indian Council of Child Welfare and Bharatiya Adim Jati Sewak Sangh (BAJSS)—are being investigated for running several creches on paper and misusing government grants to the tune of Rs 350 crore. Cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in 2006, the scheme was to have these three organisations acting as ‘mother’ outfits that would farm off the implementation bit to partner NGOs. They were allocated a sum of Rs 110 crore annually for the purpose.

Right from the start, however, irregularities began surfacing in the scheme. K.J. Kakanwar, a joint director of the cswb and in charge of Karnataka and Bihar, was suspended as early as June 2006. A departmental inquiry instituted by the executive director of the board, Sujata Saunik, revealed that he was allocating funds to NGOs run by his relatives and members of his extended family. A plethora of such complaints thereafter led the Union ministry of women and child development (WCD), then under Renuka Chowdhary, to initiate an investigation into these allegations. The case is now being actively pursued by the new WCD minister, Krishna Tirath.

Mandated to provide children safe shelters, ensure nutritional food, run pre-school activities and provide healthcare, the three organisations instead spent their energies weaving an elaborate web of deceipt. They maintained fake audits and balancesheets, copies of which are with Outlook, duly signed by chartered accountants to buttress the lie that all these creches were functional and guidelines were being followed. “The audit reports and balancesheets submitted to the ministry do not have the registration number of the practising chartered accountants,” reveals a source in the ministry’s vigilance department. “This shows they’re fake. The balancesheet and audit report have no meaning without the CA’s registration number.”

Further, bill books and letterheads were printed in the name of NGOs who neither had any building nor any infrastructure to run creches. For example, according to sources in the WCD ministry, an amount of Rs 1,24,424 was shown to have been sanctioned and released to a partner NGO in Sikkim. No such creche actually exists, but an audit report prepared by Delhi-based chartered accountants M/s Mandeep Kumar Garg & Co shows that everything is in order. Other such non-existent/non-functional NGOs have appeared in the books in 11 states across the country. In fact, when minister Krishna Tirath asked for a register of functional creches across the country, she found there was no such list.

“We have received complaints against the three organisations running creches and the alleged irregularities in their working,” says Tirath. “Since June, we have taken initiatives to iron out the irregularities.” Tirath also wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi in September about the misappropriation of funds. When contacted, Renuka Chowdhary too confirmed there were irregularities. “We did take note of the irregularities,” she said, “and the funds were stopped.”

Funds to the BAJSS were stopped after a departmental investigation in March 2009 found that of the 5,000 creches BAJSS said it ran nationwide, there were actually only 2,000. Shyam Manohar, the secretary general of BAJSS, had this to say in his defence: “I agree that mistakes may have taken place at some point, but the fact is, we’re human beings. None of the mistakes were malafide and intentional.” Ironically, the suspended Kakanwar has been reinstated as joint director of the creche scheme. Says Prema Cariappa, cswb chairperson, “The suspension was over, so he is back and the inquiry is still going on. As far as irregularities are concerned,” she says, “the board has no role. But there are some complaints against the Bharatiya Adim Jati Sewak Sangh.” Which doesn’t answer our question: could a scam of this magnitude have taken place without the knowledge of the cswb—the only government organisation among the three mother agencies?


Outlook, 28 December, 2009, http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?263359
 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close