Gurugram civic body’s vigilance wing finds multiple cases with missing records

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram’s (MCG) vigilance wing has found at least eight cases where vital records of payment, items procured, and requisite approvals, along with other key details are absent, officials said on Monday.

The status of these projects was discovered during an ongoing review of 101 cases under direction of Mukesh Kumar Ahuja, commissioner, MCG.

All these cases pertain to complaints filed internally by the MCG , the public, the Haryana government, through the CM window and PM grievances portal, Lokayukta inquiries, State Vigilance Bureau, and the chief minister’s flying squad, officials said.

Of the 101 cases, 57 have been reviewed so far, and officials are expecting more cases where key details might not be available. “There can be a possibility of corruption or negligence in these eight cases, or a lapse on behalf of MCG officials. Relevant wings of the MCG have been directed to submit or recheck the details,” a senior MCG official of the vigilance wing informed.

The eight cases include the MCG purchasing 600 cycles for a Raahgiri event in 2014, where details of 172 cycles worth ₹10 lakh are still missing. The MCG only has a note stating “donated” and nothing else. The vigilance wing has directed the engineering wing to recheck its records, a senior official informed

The corporation also has no records of 2,09,000 tiles used for setting up a temporary helipad at the Leisure Valley Park in November 2016. A total of 2,88,000 tiles were used in the making of the helipad for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was attending a Golden Jubilee event in the city, marking 50 years of Haryana’s formation.

“We have found records of around 79,000 tiles from Leisure Valley Ground set up on the streets of Carterpuri and Sheetla colony without any permission. In addition, there are no records of 2,09,000 tiles, worth ₹40 lakh. We suspect these have been stolen or sold illegally. We have asked officials in the engineering wing to provide an explanation,” the above quoted official said.

Other files include localised projects such as the building of public toilets, laying of water lines, illegal construction, and horticulture wing tenders allotted without requisite approval.

Last month, a state government panel led by Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar reviewed the status of 74 cases pending the MCG’s vigilance wing.

The MCG’s vigilance wing was constituted in January 2020 under the direction of the Haryana government after a lot of cases of corruption, negligence, bribery, and other discrepancies emerged. The objective was to investigate issues internally at a much faster rate.

“At least 57 cases have been investigated so far and we are in the process of reviewing 44 more such cases. We are aiming to complete the investigation of the remaining cases within this week and submit them to the MCG commissioner for perusal,” said Rohtash Bishnoi, additional commissioner, MCG, and head, vigilance wing.

According to officials, despite significant discrepancies in some of the 57 cases, the vigilance wing has found that no major action has been taken against any official for them. “Discrepancies have been found in some of the 57 cases which are being investigated. The findings will be compiled in a report and submitted to the MCG commissioner, recommending further action in accordance with law,” Bishnoi said.