Big blow to Raman Singh, chief secretary ready for CBI probe

RAIPUR: In an embarrassment to the Raman Singh government, just ahead of the upcoming assembly polls, Chhattisgarh chief secretary Sunil Kumar, has volunteered to present himself for an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), after a complaint was lodged with the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), alleging corruption and irregularities in purchases by the school education department.
A 1979-batch IAS officer Sunil Kumar, who is due to retire in another five months, shot a letter to Raman Singh, pointing out that a complaint was lodged with CVC, leveling charges of corruption against him and other officers in purchase of furniture in school education department during his tenure as additional chief secretary. The complaint to the CVC alleged that Sunil Kumar, additional chief secretary D S Mishra, and other officers had gone out of their way to favour suppliers in furniture purchases.
"Since, I being the head of administration, no agency within the state will be able to do a fair inquiry against me. Hence, the probe into the allegations of corruption may be handed over to the CBI," he said in his letter.
The issue has put the state's political leadership in a fix. If it agrees to handover the probe into the complaints of corruption to the CBI, it could become a loss of face in the run up to the polls.
If it turns down the chief secretary's suggestion, the state government would be seen as going soft on the issue of corruption.
Sources said the development was an apparent outcome of an on-going cold war between senior minister Brijmohan Agrawal, who holds the school education and public works department portfolio, and the chief secretary.
They said R P Singh, who is said to be an RTI activist, had sent a complaint to the CVC on September 16, seeking a probe into what he termed as furniture scam. Subsequently, someone dropped copy of the complaint at the chief secretary's office.
However, bureaucratic circles said they felt that the chief secretary might have used this complaint against him as an opportunity to get a probe ordered into the complaints alleged corruption in school education department, which is under a powerful minister, that too at a time when assembly polls are scheduled to be held by the end of this year.
"It's a serious matter. This indicates that the chief secretary knows the level of corruption in the school education department. Since, the demand for a CBI probe has come from the state's head of administration, state government cannot ignore it as funds for many of the schemes come from the centrally sponsored schemes," said state Congress general secretary Ramesh Varliyani.