15 contractual meter readers relieved of their duties; Police complaints to be lodged
Mysuru: In a crackdown on corruption, six time-scale staff members of Vani Vilas Water Works (VVWW), the water supply wing of the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC), have been dismissed from service and 15 contractual meter readers have also been relieved of their duties.
The action comes in the wake of a major embezzlement involving the misuse of water bill collections to the tune of Rs. 1.25 crore. During a review meeting in October 2024 to assess progress on outstanding water bill collections, it was discovered that certain VVWW staff had misused consumer bill payments.
An Inquiry Committee, headed by Superintending Engineer K.J. Sindhu, found the employees and contractual staff guilty and accordingly, a report was submitted to MCC Commissioner Ashaad-Ur-Rahman Shariff, who took the disciplinary action.
Inspectors and meter readers guilty
The dismissed employees, including Water Inspectors Chennegowda, K. Mahesh and N. Mohan, as well as meter readers Venkatesh and Saifulla, confessed to their involvement in the crime through written statements. Approximately Rs. 1 crore was recovered from them during the investigation. The dismissal notice has been addressed to each person.
The probe uncovered that over the past 18 months, the staff had been hacking the software module developed by Seminal Software Pvt. Ltd. used for water bill collection to generate fake receipts and misappropriate funds.
Acting on the investigation’s findings, the MCC Commissioner issued orders yesterday for their dismissal under Government service rules, demonstrating a firm stance against malpractices. It may be recalled here that Star of Mysore published a front-page story on the corrupt practice yesterday under the title ‘Rs. 1.25 crore Embezzlement at Vani Vilas Water Works’
Police complaint
A notice has been issued to the head of the company that provided the contract workers, with steps underway to blacklist them. The MCC is also preparing action against Mallikarjun, representing Seminal Software, the software service provider, for his role in the misuse of public money. The investigation revealed that Mallikarjun hacked the login credentials of the Executive Engineer and used them to generate fake bills in the software daily.
MCC authorities are moving ahead with plans to file a criminal case against Mallikarjun and three others, who are identified as the main accused of misusing the software to manipulate drinking water bill collections and misappropriate funds.
Commissioner Ashaad-Ur-Rahman Shariff has instructed his subordinates to lodge a criminal complaint at the V.V. Puram Police Station.
The VVWW officials will submit a detailed written complaint, along with supporting documents, on Dec. 7 (today), ensuring strict legal action against those responsible.
This post was published on December 7, 2024 6:39 pm