Private work at government expense

A lightning inspection conducted by the minister has uncovered that some employees in the office of the chief architect of the public works department were doing private work at the government's expense. The main responsibility of this office headed by the Chief Architect is to sketch, plan, prepare, and design government buildings, roads, and bridges. But the investigation revealed serious inaccuracies and irregularities that they were preparing sketches and plans by taking external contracts for private construction companies and consultancies. This activity has been going on there for years. It is a shocking discovery that they were drawing government salaries and working for private companies and individuals for remuneration. For this, they were misusing the facilities including the computers, without any guilt feeling.

Only a handful of employees were present in the office when the minister conducted the inspection. This treachery continued under the leadership of some employees who had remained here without a transfer for years. Moreover, the inspection has also found evidence that some of the employees here were running benami firms. Public Works Department Minister Mohammad Riyas said after the lightning inspection that Vigilance will investigate all the irregularities found during the inspection.

After such inspections, interventions to save even those caught with evidence are seen usually. It will be the private construction lobby that took their help that will try to save them. Therefore, there should be a thorough vigilance investigation in this regard. It is known that plans for some flats, shopping malls, and villas in Thiruvananthapuram city were prepared here. If the same employees continue to operate the computers etc. every effort will be made to destroy the evidence. High officials should exercise caution to prevent the evidence from getting destroyed before the investigation starts.

The role played by them in stalling the works of road and bridge is not small. There should be ruthless action against such people. Just a relocation of these officials is not what is needed. If that happens, there is every possibility that those who replace them will follow the same path they took. Therefore, there should be a process of dismissing the officials who got caught with proof that they have done private outsourcing at government expense.