India Today; Mumbai November 3, 2010
The unearthing of the Adarsh housing scam may have put ministers and politicians on a shaky ground. But it is the role of several bureaucrats in the alleged fraud that is most likely to get whitewashed.
Not only bureaucrats from various departments - who directly or indirectly handled Adarsh society files - acquired flats for themselves or their relatives, they also ensured that they remained protected.
This became apparent when Right to Information activists, who had originally sniffed the scam much before it came to light, were told that property declaration affidavits by bureaucrats concerned had been destroyed.
For instance, former urban development secretary Ramanand Tiwari's son Omkar was given membership in the society. But when RTI activist from Pune Vihar Durve sought information on assets held by Tiwari and relatives of other senior officials, he was repeatedly told that his application was not in the public interest.
Durve was even told that the property declaration affidavits submitted by Tiwari had been destroyed by joint secretary Seema Vyas as he had retired from his service.
Tiwari procured a flat for his son while Seema got a flat for herself in the Adarsh society. Her husband Pradip Vyas was Mumbai district collector who had handled several issues pertaining to the housing society.
Besides Tiwari and Seema, other bureaucrats from the urban development department, revenue department, chief minister's office, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking and even the co-operatives had allegedly shared the booty.
Former BMC commissioner Jairaj Phatak allegedly cleared a file and managed to acquire a flat for his son.
His friend J. M. Abhyankar, an ex- IAS officer who recently joined the Shiv Sena, acquired a flat for himself.
Former BEST general manager Uttam Khobragade got a flat for his daughter, who is in the Indian Foreign Service.
C. S. Sangitrao, whose son got a flat in the Adarsh society, was with the CMO. Another bureaucrat Subhash Lala's family members procured flats in the society.
I. A. Kundan and Vyas, both collectors of Mumbai district, acquired flats for themselves.
D. K. Shankaran and his wife Joyce Shankaran, both senior bureaucrats, got a flat booked for their son.
A deputy secretary from the urban development department and a retired income tax commissioner also got flats booked for themselves.
"While we are answerable to people and our party leadership, bureaucrats earn perks without any accountability. We have been struggling to get a plot for our society for the past 18 years, but everytime we suggest a plot, IAS officers grab it for themselves," a senior legislator said.
"This is so similar to the aftermath of the 26/ 11, when Vilasrao Deshmukh, R. R. Patil and Shivraj Patil lost their posts, but not a single constable was suspended for dereliction of duty," a leader from a political party said.
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