Bengaluru

Bangalore

BBMP

Gowdaiah’s appointment order

Lokayukta

In October, the Anti-Corruption Bureau raided NG Gowdaiah(above) and KIADB chief engineer TR Swamy from whom around Rs 6 crore was recovered

Commissioner

I am not aware of his appointment... We will ask the Urban Development Department to take him back, we don’t want such people – BH Anil Kumar, BBMP Commissioner

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This promotion is raising eyebrows. No, it’s not the usual jealousy on part of NG Gowdaiah’s colleagues that he has been promoted to a plum post - that of a Chief Engineer, Projects, BruhatMahanagara Palike.(order copy of promotion is withMirror). This puts him in charge of all of’s major projects that run into hundreds of crores of rupees. Some of the projects that are in the pipeline are 596 major roads to be built at a cost of Rs 2,500 crore and sixelevated corridors at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore.But questions are being asked as to how the state government could promote Gowdaiah, an engineering officer with the BDA, who was caught by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for possessing disproportionate assets.It is the norm that the government does not give executive posts to officers until they have been cleared of charges. However, Gowdaiah’s promotion has come despite the ACB raiding his residence on October 5, 2018, and seizing Rs 77 lakh in cash, Rs 15 lakh in bank accounts, 18 kg of gold, 10 kg silver, eight sites, 14 flats, three cars and three bikes.It was alleged that the ACB sleuths found documents relating to tenders for certain BDA projects, at Gowdaiah’s residence. The state government suspended Gowdaiah only to reinstate him as the engineering officer at the BDA, three months later.Meanwhile, social activists are baffled with the promotion of an officer caught by the ACB for possessing assets worth crores of rupees. They are questioning the government’s haste to post such officials to the BBMP even before the ACB completes its investigation.Terming it a bad precedent, former KarnatakaJustice N Santosh Hegde said that the government’s decision to promote Gowdaiah would send a wrong message to society. “The government should have waited till the ACB completed its probe and then promoted Gowdaiah. It is not fair that the government is in a hurry to promote him when the ACB found such large assets in his possession during the raid,” said Justice Hegde.Generally, the Urban Development Department deputes engineers to the BBMP and it is up to the BBMPto assign duties to such engineers.“I do not know what has made the state government to post Gowdaiah to the BBMP. The ACB inquiry is incomplete and Gowdaiah is yet to get a clean chit from the anti-graft agency. It is quite shocking to know that Gowdaiah had already got the posting without giving the BMBP Commissioner an opportunity to post him in the departments where vacancies exist,’’ said S Amaresh, managing trustee, Right to Information Study Centre.Former leader of Opposition in BBMP Council A H Basavaraj has appealed to the BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar and Mayor Gowtham Kumar Jain not to allow Gowdaiah to assume office as the Chief Engineer (Projects) at any cost.“Gowdaiah is known for corruption at the BDA. After ACB caught him for possessing huge assets worth crores of rupees, the government had suspended him. Now, the government is promoting him while the ACB probe is incomplete. I want the Mayor and the Commissioner to send Gowdaiah back to his parent department,’’ said Basavaraj.Expressing shock and dismay over the promotion of BDA engineering officer as a Chief Engineer (projects) of the BBMP, Sai Datta, a social activist, has blamed Gowdaiah for the failure of BDA’s housing project.“The government’s decision to promote and appoint Gowdaiah as the Chief Engineer (projects) of the BBMP is not a positive step. I want the authorities concerned to withdraw the promotion and appointment order of Gowdaiah with immediate effect,’’ said Sai Datta.Terming the authorities at the helm of affairs of the BBMP as most corrupt, Mohan Dasari, president, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bengaluru said that one cannot expect the BBMP to have honest and sincere officers. “Most of the officers on deputation at the BBMP want to earn more and more money. The BBMP is an ideal destination for corrupt officers. I am not surprised with the appointment of Gowdaiah as the Chief Engineer (projects) of the BBMP,’’ said Mohan Dasari.Meanwhile, BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar has feigned ignorance about Gowdaiah’s appointment as the Chief Engineer (Projects).“I am not aware of it. So far I have not received any communication from the Urban Development Department. I will write a letter to the higher authorities against deputing Gowdaiah to the BBMP,”’ said the BBMP Commissioner.