Following charges levelled by the Congress of corruption and discrepancies in borewell drilling and installation of pump sets by the Backward Classes Department, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said a probe would be conducted into the alleged ₹431-crore scam.
Mr. Bommai said he would call a meeting of both ruling and Opposition members to find a solution to the delay in drilling borewells and providing power connections under the welfare schemes of the government.
Delay in borewells
In a reply to Yathindra Siddaramaiah, Mr. Kharge and other Congress members during the question hour, Mr. Bommai told the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday that there had been a delay in drilling borewells and providing power connections to borewells for the past several years. The previous year's target had been met this year owing to multiple factors, he said.
Mr. Kharge alleged that contractors of the Water Resources Department had been given contracts to drill borewells and different rates had been fixed for beneficiaries of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other backward classes. While the rate for each borewell drilling had been fixed at ₹84,000 for SC and ST beneficiaries, it was ₹1.24 lakh for OBCs, he said.
Congress ire
Earlier, Minister for Backward Classes Kota Srinivas Poojari said henceforth money would be transferred to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts for drilling borewells. Dissatisfied with the reply, Congress members rushed to the well of the House seeking proper clarifications from the Minister. Later, Mr. Bommai said he would order a probe into the allegations. However, he did not mention the agency which would conduct the probe.
