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FINANCE

Mystery over delay in PF scam probe ing spared and investigating agencies
have not shown enough courage to
catch them? Why investigations were
The lag raises many eyebrows as the DHFL scam trails the not taken over by the CBI? Why gov-
ernment is shielding senior IAS offic-
conduct of some senior-most bureaucrats who were at the ers who run these corporations? The
government has maintained studied
helm of decision-making process, reports mudit mathur
silence on such relevant questions re-
ystery surrounds over The power employees had appre- mained tight-lipped.
delay in the much- hended losing their entire corpus after Initially on 2nd November, Power
publicised move of the the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 20th Minister ShrikantSharma had said that
government to trans- November, 2019 superseded the board since, DHFL investments were made af-
M fer the investigations of DHFL and appointed a former bank- ter flouting norms, the government had
of illegal investments of 4,122.7 crore er as the administrator of the financial- recommended a CBI probe with the
from the provident fund (PF) corpus of ly stressed company. state economic offenses wing (EOW)
power employees in scam-hit Dewan The state congress chief Ajay Kumar probing the case till the central agency
Housing Finance Corporation Limited Lallu is consistently attacking Power takes over. So far, five persons, includ-
(DHFL) to the Central Bureau of Inves- Minister Shrikant Sharma over the il- ing three retired and serving UPPCL
tigation (CBI). It raised many officials, have been arrested
eyebrows as scam trails the in the case but investigations
conduct of some senior-most were transferred to CBI.
bureaucrats who were at VKSSS Noida convener
the helm of decision making Jitendra Shandilya said, “We
process. demand the immediate ar-
Meanwhile, the state gov- rest of the chairman of the
ernment has come forward corporation and other IAS
to defuse the upcoming in- officers responsible for the
definite stir call given by scam. It is only under the re-
thousands of power employ- gime of the present chairman
ees and engineers of Uttar that an investment of nearly
Pradesh Power Corporation 4,122 crore has been done.”
Limited (UPPCL), under the “Funds over 99 per cent
banner of Vidyut Karmachari were deliberately invested in
Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti their three othercompanies,
(VKSSS) after they went on a of which 65 per cent alone
48-hour successful work boy- • Protests pause The indefinite stir call comes to an end in DHFL. The officials in-
cott call. volved in this scam adopted
The state government is- all illegal means to share the
sued a government order on 23 No- legal investment of 4,122.70 crore spoils of this loot,” Shandilya added.The
vember, assuring the agitating employ- from the corpus of employees provi- agitators were also demanding the im-
ees that until the recovery proceedings dent fund Trusts in scam-hit Dewan mediate release of a white paper relat-
are carried out by the trusts the govern- Housing Finance Corporation Limited ing to investment of GPF (government
ment would provide interest free loan (DHFL).Ever since the Congress General provident fund) and CPF (contributory
to the Power Corporation to clear liabil- Secretary Priyanka Gandhi took jibe on provide fund) by the state government.
ities of employees in case it fails to do it corruption in PF investments during The general employees of the power
from its own resources. The employees the BJP rule, its state’s president Ajay corporation feel that the magnitude of
have put off the agitation to normalize Lallu is unrelentingly raising the issue PF scamis so high that it could notbe
its operations. despite open threat of defamation from happened without the deep and active
The government has also started the the Power Minister. involvement of top most bureaucrat.
process of disinvesting the PF corpus in While maintaining that most of the Delay in handing over the probe to CBI
two other non-banking finance compa- illegal investments in the tainted DHFL further create suspicion in the minds of
nies as well — LIC Housing Finance and were done during BJP rule under the employees that administration is delib-
PNB Housing Finance, which would be power minister Shrikant Sharma, he erately hiding their names.
invested in other public sector financial must step down on moral grounds.
institutions as per norms. He questioned why big fishes are be- LETTERS@TEHELKA.COM

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