Damoh man to fast unto death against corruption

BHOPAL: After 22 newborns being named after Anna Hazare in Bundelkhand region's Damoh district, now a social workers there is doing an Anna by starting a fast unto death against corruption from Saturday, Aug 27.
With the police there refusing to file an FIR against a minister, an IAS officer and engineers of water resources department, Bhartiya, a 70-year-old social worker who has been campaigning against corruption for 40 years, will start his fast tomorrow.He said via an RTI application, he had found that the 'measurement book' of an irrigation project had been manipulated. He said Rs 4,85,280 had been manipulated as Rs 23,63040. The manipulation was done in the Majhgawa-Hansraj reservoir project.
"So far no work has been done on the project and the financial records have been fudged," he told TOI. He said similar manipulations worth a few crore were done in govt documents because financial year was coming to an end and the "budget would have lapsed."
Bhartiya claimed that he has exposed Rs 200 crore worth irregularities in the water resources department through the RTI.
He said that a government inquiry also proved these allegations and the report is awaiting action since Nov 2010.The report shows the involvement of the minister, principal secretary and the lower rung of bureaucracy, including engineers.
"When I approached the police to file an FIR under Section 420 and other IPC sections, they refused.We do need a Jan Lokpal as the existing law is weak," Bhartiya said.
SP Dilip Arya said he could not lodge an FIR as action against an IAS officer needs government permission. Like Hazare, Bhartiya had also given an ultimatum to the district administration before he starts his fast from August 27.
Bhartiya has just returned from Delhi after participating in Hazare's agitation at Ramlila Maidan. He has been close to the Bhushans -- Shanti and Prashant -- as all the issues raised by Bhartiya in Madhya Pradesh had been represented by them in the Supreme Court.
During Digvijay Singh's regime, Bhartiya had raised the issue of illegal felling and took on the local MLA, Ratnesh Solomon. He was also attacked also by unknown people for raising the issue. Now, Bhartiya is determined to take this issue to its logical end. "This will expose the MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan," he told TOI.