Sunday, 29 May 2022 | PNS | DEHRADUN
In a scathing attack on the ruling BJP, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Yashpal Arya has said that the ministers and position holders in the BJP government are vying with each other to provide jobs and other benefits for their relatives. He said that some officers and top functionaries of the Badrinath- Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) gave salary increments and provided other benefits to their relatives by taking a decision in the meeting of the board recently. This illegal decision was later taken back after protests from the employees of the BKTC. Arya claimed that the contractual workers and employees who were being given favour were the relatives of the functionaries and officers of the BKTC. He said that such partial decisions had been taken in the past too to provide in the board meeting of BKTC.
Arya claimed that the functionaries of the temple committee appointed by the BJP government have now limited themselves to providing contractual jobs to their relatives or increasing the salaries of those already working there. He said that in the Congress governments, senior bureaucrats including some ICS officers and persons of high social standing were appointed in the temple committee who instead of seeking something for them, used to take support of their contacts to increase the income and reputation of the temple. “ In the BJP governments these rich traditions have witnessed a devaluation and the only agenda of functionaries of the temple committee is to provide jobs and increasing salaries of their relatives,’’ he said.
Arya said that today it seems the only qualification one needs to get a job in the temple committee is to be a close relative of the functionaries or officers of the committee. He asserted that the unemployed youths of the villages who are stakeholders of these temples have the first right on these jobs as they are serving the shrines for many generations.
Arya said that the conflict of interest clause in the constitution and principle of natural justice clearly states that the benefit giver and seeker cannot be the same person so the relatives of the office bearers and officers of the committee should not be given jobs in BKTC.
He said that the chief minister Puskar Singh Dhami should take action on the issue and remove the relatives of office bearers, functionaries and officers of BKTC. The LoP warned that if there is no improvement in the performance of BKTC, the Congress party would expose corruption in the committee and start a state-wide agitation.
