Bengaluru: A complaint has been filed by an RTI activist with the Anti-Corruption Bureau against an IAS officer who has been deputed as Joint Secretary for Water Resources and Ganga Cleaning by the central government despite having a high-level inquiry on corruption pending against her.
This was the third complaint to the recently formed Anti-Corruption Bureau.
Right to Information activist Rtd. Wing Commander G.B. Athri has filed a complaint against IAS officer Amita Prasad, the then Chief Secretary Koushik Mukherji in August 2014.
The complainant stated that former Director-General of the Administrative Training Institute (ATI) Rashmi V. Mahesh had filed a report enlisting the corrupt practices of her predecessor, Amita Prasad, to the then Chief Secretary Koushik Mukherji in August 2014.
Following the complaint, Mukherji had ordered the Additional Secretary of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department to conduct an inquiry and submit a report. While the inquiry is pending, Prasad has been posted as Joint Secretary for Water Resources and Ganga Cleaning.
“It is an irony that instead of facing inquiry into the alleged corrupt practice, illegal activities and misappropriation, Ms. Prasad had been elevated and deputed to a central government assignment, which is nothing but fraud. It is highly irregular that a high-level inquiry is yet to be completed even after 18 months. It appears that it is an effort to dilute and bury the case to save the IAS officer by vested interests, and public confidence in governance will be lost,” Athri said in his complaint.
The complainant further added that the ACB should initiate an inquiry into all the bribery charges against the IAS officer and suspend her till the completion of inquiry.
