Somewhere in Uttar Pradesh....

With less than a year to go for general elections, BSP bigwigs and former ministers Naseemuddin Siddiqui and Babu Singh Kushwaha got embroiled in a Rs.1,410 crore scam with the UP Lokayukta indicting them for wrong-doings in the buying of sandstone for dalit memorials in Lucknow and Noida. He also named 197 others, which makes the scope of the memorial scam among the larger ones to rock UP.
The misappropriation was in the form of overspending of public money, said Lokayukta NK Mehrotra, who also called for a CBI inquiry, or by any other agency not controlled by the state government. Mehrotra also called for special trial courts.
The Lokayukta, who handed over his 88-page report to chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, exonerated former CM Mayawati for lack of evidence and said there was no proof against any bureaucrat either.
However, the 199 people indicted include sitting MLA Ramesh Chandra Dubey and two former BSP MLAs, Anil Kumar Maurya and Sharda Prasad.
Others indicted by the ombudsman are two advocates, 57 engineers, 20 consortiums, 60 marble supply firms and 37 accountants, and eight others.
MEMORIAL MOOLAH
The Scam : 1,410-crore anomaly in purchase of sandstone for five dalit memorials
The Accused : 199 people, including two former ministers — Naseemuddin Siddiqui and Babu Singh Kushwaha — indicted
What Next : The Lokayukta has recommended recovery from all the 199 people; FIR against 19 and trial by special court
The sandstone has been used in five memorials – Ambedkar Samajik Pariwartan Sthal, Manyawar Kanshiram Smarak Sthal, Gautam Buddha Upvan,EcoPark (all of them in Lucknow) and the Noida Ambedkar Park.
The Lokayukta said when the construction work began, the rate of pink stone was between Rs 40 and Rs 50 per cubic feet. The contractors, engineers and consortiums, however, fixed the rate at Rs 150 per cubic feet claiming this was the rate; the Lokayukta added that assuming that the rate might have increased from Rs 50 to Rs 100 per cubic feet; there was still overcharging by Rs 50. The overspending of over Rs 1,410 crore was computed on the extra Rs 50 per cubic feet siphoned off from the government coffers, said Justice Mehrotra.
The total budget for sandstone purchase and installation involving four departments—housing, public works department, cultural department and tourism —was approximately Rs 4,277 crore, of which over Rs 4,100 crore had been spent, the Lokayukta said, adding that the total budget was transferred to LDA which got the construction done through Nirman Nigam.
In the report, the Lokayukta also recommended recovery of 30% of the amount from the two ministers, 15% each from CP Singh and SA Farooqui and 15 engineers who fixed the rate of sandstone without any tender or quotation and 5% each from the accountants.