Officer gives himself clean chit to get govt plot

Skeletons keep tumbling out of the Tamil Nadu Housing Board's (TNHB) closet after a Chennai-based Right to Information (RTI) activist exposed irregularities in the allotment of housing plots and flats under the government's discretionary quota (GDQ)
.TNHB's allotment of a 3,829sqft piece of prime land at Tiruvalluvar Nagar in Tiruvanmiyur to former Tirunelveli district collector G Prakash (now joint secretary in the industries department) is an example of how it blatantly disregarded rules. The property was worth more than Rs 2 crore in the open market at the time of allotment in 2008 and is worth Rs 3 crore at present. It was given to the official for Rs 76.58 lakh, of which he paid Rs 30 lakh upfront.

What is intriguing about the allotment — under the category meant for 'unblemished' government servants — is that instead of the official getting a certificate to that effect from the head of the department — either the chief secretary or the public secretary — Prakash chose to give himself a certificate. It said, "This is to certify that G Prakash, who is working as Tirunelveli district collector, is an unblemished government servant."

When contacted, Prakash feigned ignorance about the existence of such a certificate. He said, "I don't remember giving a certificate to myself. I don't think I did it. Moreover, it is more than two-and-a-half years now." When he was told that the copy of the letter, written in Tamil, was with TOI, he said, "Have I issued it myself? Have I signed it? I don't recall. This information is a little surprising to me."

After some time, Prakash called back and admitted that he had indeed issued such a letter. He sought to clarify that he had given it to the TNHB and not to the government. "The letter was issued after I got the government order allotting land under the government's discretionary quota. I had to give the letter to prove that there was no case pending against me."

As per norms, a government servant is recognized as "unblemished" only if he/she completes 25 years of service without adverse remarks or disciplinary action.

In a reply to an RTI application by rights activist V Gopalakrishnan, the public department has, however, maintained that it had not issued any such certificate to any government servant from 2000 to mid-2009.