Nirmal Gram Puraskar winner stinks of corruption

Nirmal Gram Puraskar winner stinks of corruption

Mangalore Today News Network

By Ramya BN

Bantwal, May 17, 2012: Ira, the first Gram Panchayat (GP) to bag the ‘Nirmal Gram Puraskar’ in the state, is unfortunately first in corruption too. Exasperated villagers are getting ready to close down the doors of GP office, seat the GP president on a donkey, and take him on a procession.

As the first GP in Karnataka to bag the national-level Nirmal Gram Puraskar, Ira had become famous worldwide. But corrupt government employees in Ira have wrecked its reputation, forcing the villagers to come out of their homes and protest in front of the GP office on May 15, Tuesday.

Ira won the Nirmal Gram Puraskar for promoting rural sanitation in 2007, after which it became famous not only in Karnataka and India, but also all over the world. International teams visited Ira to study its development patterns. The village had such a  clean reputation that it attracted several foreign visitors, including a UNICEF team comprising citizens of Indonesia, Zambia, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe, who studied its sanitation, development projects, cleanliness, and others.

 

 

Ever since the GP administration changed from BJP to Congress, the village began losing its excellent reputation. Though it won the award for promoting rural sanitation, the village now stinks and every project it undertakes reeks of corruption.

The protesting villagers claim that the GP is home to several scams and scandals. They have made a list of various irregularities in the GP and distributed it to each and every family in the village. Villagers are especially furious about the misappropriation of Rs. 80 lakh earmarked for development work, misappropriation of funds earmarked for SC/ST development, irregularities in job guarantee schemes, and much more. The protestors also allege that the GP members give wrong information not only at general body meetings, but also to any villager who requests information through RTI.

Abdul Razak, president of Ira GP, is least bothered. Behaving as if nothing has gone wrong, he challenged the protestors to prove their allegations. Meanwhile, the ZP has formed a committee to investigate the irregularities in Ira GP.