An insecure seat! Patna: according to reports, raids conducted by the state vigilance investigation bureau and the economic offence unit (EOU) of the state police on Thursday yielded disproportionate properties worth about Rs 20 crore. Among those raided are a motor vehicle inspector (MVI), Girish Kumar, Ramchandra Sharma, an executive engineer in building construction department at Patna and Awdhesh Kumar Mandal, an executive engineer of building construction department. The police seized documents relating to properties worth over Rs 4.50 crore from Sharma’s premises. Director... 

    Married and settled: at Class III Patna: corruption is indeed an arena where the Indians from all parts of the country show their innovative best. You may well imagine officials at all levels neglecting their work, their feet up on the table and staring at the blank walls, waiting for ideas, till the eureka moment arrives. Or else, you may imagine them in a huddle, in a heated debate over the ‘right way’, the ‘foolproof way’ to beat the system. All that remains to be done then is to decide on a close circle of beneficiaries as accomplices so the matter doesn’t come... 

  Hidden money: uncomfortable but safe! Patna: what the title suggests is easier said than done – the whole idea behind the unholy earnings is to display proudly, within the family, the extended family and relatives as well as the neighbourhood. This is only possible by building a big house, keeping expensive cars and lavish spending on social occasions. Otherwise, the corrupt may rue, what is the point of making so much money! It is interesting that people who are smart enough to sniff out all possible chances for on the side earnings, do not have the self-control required to stay safe,... 

  Bihar BDOs: stealing homes! Patna: according to a recent report, out of 534 block development officers posted across Bihar, 181 or one-third are currently facing probe — mostly for alleged misuse and misappropriation of fund meant for the Indira Awas Yojana. In fact, 58 BDOs face corruption charges for their dubious role in the implementation of IAY. This was revealed in an RTI query by Buxur resident Shiv Prakash Rai, who had asked for a list of accused BDOs with status of cases against them. The Rural Development Department gave the information on November 6 only after the intervention... 

Bihar Officials find new way to enrich themselves: through Mahadalit development!   Sitting on a pile! Patna: what the anti-corruption crusaders do not get right is the element of innovativeness in corruption that is on the rise day by day. They talk about ill-gotten money as if it lay in steel boxes somewhere and you need to do is raid the right places and bring back the booty to the public. In a new case of large scale corruption, it has come to light that land was being bought from farmers at a cheap rate by middlemen and sold to the government for the maximum rate stipulated under the... 

New Bihar: Mahadalit women explode when asked for bribe for Indira Awas cheques!   Uchkagaon, Hathua: in a highly telling incident at the Harpur panchayat building in the Uchkagaon block, a group of Mahadalits attacked a panchayat sachiv [secretary] for demanding a bribe of Rs 10,000 each for releasing their Indira housing cheques. It seems the beneficiaries tied up the sachiv Rajendra Ray who later managed to escape. The crowd of Mahadalits also informed the DM Pankaj Kumar who deputed the BDO Naveen Mohan Prasad who reached the spot in time to pacify the crowd. The Mahadalits from... 

Now in Kadamkuan: corrupt treasury clerk’s confiscated house to become a school   Patna: a few months ago in September when the musahar children of Patna got their posh school in a building owned by a corrupt official, there was a great cheer all over Bihar and the country. Now you have a second such case – according to reports, on Saturday Bihar government authorities confiscated the house of a suspended treasury clerk facing prosecution in a corruption case. Like the Musahari precedent, the acquired house will be converted into a primary school, as has been announced by Chief Minister... 

Bettiah jailer jailed in his own jail: for offering bribe!   Bettiah:  daily corruption in Bihar may not be on the wane. Indeed according to cynics, the small denomination corruption, namely Rs 20 –Rs 500 has risen steeply during the Nitish regime as part of daily transactions. This is no time however, to reflect on the reasons behind this phenomenon [a task to be taken up later in these pages] but to celebrate the comedown of relatively top level and big time corruption in Bihar. Here is another one now – according to latest reports, Ramesh Chandra Jaiswal, the former Bettiah jail... 

Patna DM to confiscate property of IAS officer: a 2007 case of disproportionate assets!   Patna: according to press reports, after the Patna High Court rejected the petition of suspended IAS officer S.S. Verma challenging the vigilance court’s order to confiscate his property, the Patna district magistrate has been asked by the Bihar government to start the process of confiscation of the property in question. The government intends to start a school on the confiscated property. When this happens, Verma’s house in Patna will be the first one to be transformed into a school. The Patna... 

Social audit of Anganwadis in Bihar: cleaning up the nurseries of Bihar’s development! Patna: recent reports mention that Bihar is to conduct a social audit of the Anganwadi centres (AWC) all over the state. to check complaints about corruption and to bring transparency in the functioning of the child-care and mother-care centres. According to the Bihar Social Welfare Minister Parween Amanullah ‘In view of reports of irregularities at different centres, the department (Bihar Social Welfare Department-BSWD) has decided to make its functioning transparent by conducting a social audit’. At...