Jamshedpur: A scam has come to the fore in Kalikapur panchayat of Potka block in East Singhbhum wherein government fund is being misappropriated in the name of constructing a road again and again. Ironically, the road has never ever been built.
The scam was revealed by local villagers who put up a demonstration before the office of the deputy commissioner of East Singhbhum, Dr Amitabh Kaushal, on Thursday demanding a probe into the goings-on. The villagers of Dorkasai village, where 170 families live, alleged that local contractor had withdrawn fund worth Rs 18 lakh in two installments in the name of constructing the road from Arli Dungri of Dokrasai to Dokrasai main road. Only red soil was spread over the road by the contractor, the villagers said.
First Rs 7 lakh was withdrawn and later Rs 11 lakh more was withdrawn by the same contractor for a road which does not exist. The villagers said the contractor had withdrawn around Rs 5 lakh for giving wages to villagers. But no wage was ever given to anyone since the road was never built, they said.
Leading the protestors, Sonaram Bhumij and Mahendra Sardar handed over a memorandum to the DC and demanded a high-level administrative probe into the allegations and stringent action against the accused contractor.
�We have demanded a probe into the scam to find out as to who usurped the public money in the name of building the road and why was the fund issued twice when the road was not built even once,� said Bhumij.