A group of contractors accuse Bheemashankar T of being involved in corruption during former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai’s regime.
The Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru. (Pic for representation only)
In May this year, soon after the Congress came to power in Karnataka, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Priyank Kharge demanded an investigation into mismanagement of Kalyana Karnataka Regional Development Board (KKRDB) funds.
Kharge alleged financial irregularities even in the Kalyana Karnataka Human Resources Agriculture and Cultural Society (KKHACS) under its president and secretary, and demanded an investigation.
Ironically, the man who was secretary of KKHACS — the body accused of irregularities by the minister himself — has been appointed as private secretary to Priyank Kharge.
Senior KAS officer Bheemashankar T was appointed as private secretary to the RDPR minister on 12 June.
Not only did Priyank Kharge point to irregularities in the bodies headed by Bheemashankar till he became the minister’s aide, a few contractors too allege that the officer was involved in financial irregularities.
One contractor has even officially written to the government alleging financial irregularities.
Before he was appointed to Kharge’s office, Bheemashankar was serving as Kalaburagi’s additional deputy commissioner and also secretary of the KKHACS.
Kharge, who also holds the Information Technology and Biotechnology portfolio, had written three letters to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah alleging irregularities in the KKRDB and KKHACS in the last week of May this year.
Siddaramaiah, in turn, set up a committee on 29 May, headed by Department of Planning and Statistics Joint Director Chandrashekar, to investigate the alleged misappropriation of funds in the KKRDB and KKHACS.
. @CMofKarnataka orders investigation into the mismanagement of KKRDB funds. Crores has been diverted to fulfill BJP’s hidden agenda & for their own MLAs.
As promised earlier, a thorough investigation will be done & the guilty will be booked. pic.twitter.com/gSkwZfNlnP
— Priyank Kharge / ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ (@PriyankKharge) May 30, 2023
The chief minister also ordered the committee to submit the detailed investigation report within 15 days.
Following the orders, the committee submitted a preliminary report to the state government recently. The detailed report is likely to be submitted in a week or two, claimed officials of the committee. Even as the probe continues, the person who headed one of the bodies as secretary is now an official in the minister’s secretariat.
Meanwhile, the government has ordered the dissolution of another probe committee set up by KKRDB Secretary Anirudh Sravan into alleged financial irregularities in KKHACS.
The appointment of Bheemashankar as a Priyank Kharge’s private secretary has stunned many people — especially government contractors.
A group of contractors accused Bheemashankar of being involved in financial irregularities in the works taken up by the KKHACS and in the Kalyana Karnataka Liberation Day (Amrut Mahotsav), or K-K Liberation Day, during former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai’s regime.
Detailing the irregularities, contractor MS Patil, a resident of Kalaburagi, told South First: “In the first place, the setting up of KKHACS itself was unconstitutional, which the minister himself has pointed out. The government or authorities concerned are not allowed to set up any other society under the KKRDB. The corruption was rampant when Bheemashankar was secretary of this society.”
He added: “Around ₹300 crore sanctioned for various works and training for the society was diverted according to their wishes, with fake bills submitted to the government.”
Patil also alleged: “It was Marketing Communications and Advertising Limited (MCA) — a public sector enterprise (under the Department of Commerce and Industries) — that got 4G exemption under KTPP Act and raised bills of ₹4 crore of works of K-K Liberation Day event.”
The 4G exemption under Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act (KTPP act) is generally applicable in case of any emergency work to skip calling of tenders and avoid delay.
He added: “The bills were claimed by the company Laughing Waters, which did not carry out any work in the event. The MCA has made the payment to Laughing Waters. The actual contractors and vendors are still being made to run from pillar to post to get the pending bills cleared.”
“Bheemashankar, who was the Special officer for K-K Liberation Day, got all the works done by the local vendors even before the 4G exemption was accorded. He was assured of making payments to the contractors as soon as the government approved 4G exemption. Even nine months after the events, many bills remain uncleared,” charged Patil.
Accusing Bheemashankar and MCA Managing Director Sidddalingappa Pujari of indulging in irregularities, another contractor, Vijay Mullar, had written a letter to KKRDB Secretary Anirudh Sravan on 11 April. The letter is with South First
“On the orders of Kalaburagi ADC Bheemashankar T, who was also special officer for the KKRDB’s Amrut Mahotsav, and MCA MD Pujari, I and my associates have carried out stage, backdrop and logo work at a said cost of ₹6.50 lakh,” Vijay said in the letter.
He further said: “After the event, we appealed to Bheemashankar to clear the bills. He directed us to claim the bills from MCA. When we approached MCA, they said that we don’t have work orders and directed us to contact Bheemashankar.”
“Thereafter, Bheemashankar neither answered our phone calls nor WhatsApp messages. We couldn’t meet him even at his office. When we verified in KKRDB and MCA, the bills have been paid to Laughing Water company. Bheemashankar and Pujari have not only looted money but also misused government funds,” alleged Vijay, and demanded action against both the officers, and clearance of his pending bills.
Even the senior officials at KKRDB told South First that they found glaring errors in the works of Bheemashankar.
Patil continued on Bheemashankar: “He has been involved in many such irregularities as secretary of the KKHACS and the special officer of the event. Despite allegations on him, he has been appointed as the private secretary of minister Kharge.”
He pointed out: “The minister himself alleged irregularities in the KKRDB, the KKHACS, and the event. By appointing the corrupt officer as his personal secretary, is Kharge trying to save him? What message will this appointment send? Will he not influence the committee investigating alleged irregularities?”
When South First tried to contact Kharge on the matter, he did not respond to phone calls and text messages. This report will be updated with the minister’s response when there is one.
Meanwhile, in an unexpected turn of events, the Karnataka government wrote a letter to the KKRDB Secretary Anirudh Sravan on 22 June, dissolving the investigative committee set up by him to probe the alleged irregularities in KKHACS.
The letter — a copy of which is with South First — by the Department of Planning, Programme, Monitoring, and Statistics Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Shalini Rajneesh to KKRDB Secretary Sravan, asked him to call off the probe launched against the KKHACS.
In the letter, Shalini Rajneesh said: “On the orders of the Finance Department, ₹100 crore has been released each fiscal year for the KKHACS. The total sanctioned amount is ₹300 crore. The KKRDB secretary is wrongly considering that the KKRDB has given the funds to society and has set up an investigation committee without the permission of the government.”
She added: “This committee has been set up to probe the utilisation of grants that were sanctioned by the government through the board, the approval sought for the action plan from the board, and to verify the works implemented as per the action plan got approved by the society from the government.”
“The society’s secretary has sought directions from the government on providing the requested information and documents to the committee. I would like to convey that the committee and ongoing investigation on KKHACS set up by KKRDB has been dissolved,” the ACS mentioned in the letter.
Responding to the letter, KKRDB Secretary Anirudh Sravan told South First: “On the orders of the Karnataka’s Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot, KKRDB had given ₹200 crore in 2021-22 and 2022-23 fiscal year. The ₹200 crore given to the society is of KKRDB money. All funds given to KKRDB will be audited every year.”
“When we sought information about expenditure from the society, we did not receive any kind of response from them. The society has to keep an account of all the expenses. There were also complaints of irregularities in the society. Hence, I had set-up a committee to inquire into the allegations.”
“As a secretary of KKRDB, I have every right to set-up a committee and enquire into alleged irregularities either in the board or society. We have completed the inquiry even before ACS wrote a letter to me. I will seek the further directions from the government on this inquiry report,” detailed secretary Sravan.
Accusing of Bheemashankar playing a key role in dissolving the inquiry committee, contractor Patil said: “The government dissolved the inquiry committee only after Bheemashankar wrote a letter to the higher authorities on 12 June. He was appointed as the private secretary to Kharge on the same day. He should be investigated for his alleged roles in misappropriation of government funds.”
He further said: “These developments clearly indicate that the corrupt officer is being saved from getting punished. There is no doubt that he not only influenced but also succeeded in ensuring that the committee is dissolved.”
Meanwhile, the committee headed by the Department of Planning and Statistics Joint Director Chandrashekar, which was set up by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on 29 May, submitted a primary report on the alleged irregularities in KKRDB and KKHACS recently.
The members of the committee visited the office of KKRDB and KKHACS in Kalaburagi to carry out their investigation into the alleged irregularities in the first week of June.
Chandrashekar told South First: “We have submitted a primary report to the government. The investigation is still underway as the officials are verifying the beneficiaries of all seven districts. The final detailed report will be submitted at the earliest.”
The officer did not disclose anything about the findings of the committee in the investigation.
Kharge had written three letters to Siddaramaiah alleging misappropriation of ₹3,000 crore in the KKRDB and ₹300 crore in the KKHACS, and said the government gave a nod for the expenditure of ₹3.50 crore for the Liberation Day festival, but irregularities had been reported while spending additional ₹50 lakh.
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