Thiruvananthapuram | VACB has detected corruption and widespread irregularities in the KSEB during 'Operation Short Circuit', a state-level surprise inspection conducted to unearth malpractices in the utility, officials said on Saturday.
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) in a statement said the 'Operation Short Circuit' was conducted based on information received regarding large-scale irregularities, corruption, and nepotism in the awarding of contracts of Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) with the connivance of officials.
Similarly, the bureau received information that some officials were accepting bribes in the form of commissions from contractors and clearing bills without proper inspection of works.
The inspection was carried out at 70 selected electrical section offices across the state, from 10.30 am onwards on Friday. The contract works executed by KSEB over the past five years were subjected to scrutiny, VACB said.
“During the inspections, Vigilance found that 41 officials across various KSEB section offices had accepted bribes amounting to Rs 16.50 lakh through bank accounts alone from different contractors,” VACB said.
According to VACB, the inspection revealed that, in the majority of offices, contracts were awarded without following the prescribed procedures.
“Works were deliberately split into smaller amounts to avoid tender procedures and executed through quotations. It was also found that the same contractors had been awarded multiple works over the years, irregularities existed in the use of vehicles taken on a contract basis, and contract files were not properly maintained in most offices,” VACB said.
Registers such as scrap registers, log books, and work registers were either not maintained or not properly updated.
In many offices, scrap materials were not properly accounted for after completion of works, VACB said.
Meter readers, who are supposed to be rotated every six months, were allowed to continue in the same zones for more than three years in certain section office limits.
VACB said that field verification conducted as part of the inspections revealed that in most works, execution was not in accordance with approved estimates.
“Earth pipes and other materials of prescribed specifications were not used, metal posts were not muffed as per estimates, and bills were passed and payments released despite these lapses,” the statement said.
Vigilance Director Manoj Abraham said the VACB views with utmost seriousness the acceptance of bribes by officials from contractors in the form of commissions, collusion between officials and contractors in tendering and execution of works, and officials shielding irregularities instead of taking action.
He said follow-up inspections and field verifications would continue in the coming days, detailed scrutiny would be conducted in suspicious cases, and bank account statements of officials, their family members, contractors, and middlemen involved in corruption and irregularities would be collected and examined in detail.
Electricity Minister K Krishnankutty told reporters that disciplinary action would be taken against all officials found involved in corrupt practices by the VACB.
“There will be further action based on the VACB report. The report will be handed over to the board chairman, who will conduct further inquiry before taking action,” he said.
The minister said such corrupt practices had not come to the board's notice before. “However, we are now closely monitoring the developments,” he said.
