Yatish Yadav By

NEW DELHI: Scandals of the UPA regime, big and small, are tumbling out of abandoned closets. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has ordered a probe into alleged illegal appointments of State and District Coordinators for Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Castes under the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) Chairman, Panna Lal Punia, after it received a series of complaints that bribes were given for appointments, which were carried out without prior sanction or intimation to the government as per rules. Punia is a Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh since 2014.

Sources said around 22 appointments made by the NCSC came under the PMO scanner in September. It was alleged that huge sums exchanged hands in lieu of appointments. The PMO was told that ‘certain coordinators’ flaunted their VVIP status and were allegedly involved in extortion. They were illegally sporting the national emblem on their vehicles, using letterheads with NCSC office address as their place of functioning and possessing government identity cards to add to their self-created VVIP status. Ironically, most of the appointees are Congress functionaries or affiliated to the party.

The NCSC was constituted under Article 338 of the Constitution to ensure implementation of safeguards provided for the Scheduled Castes and also to inquire into specific complaints with respect to the deprivation of their rights and safeguards.

“A preliminary inquiry by PMO revealed that the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment did not sanction any such position and it was not even kept in the loop. In fact, the ministry told the PMO that if any such appointments have been made, they have no legal sanctity,” sources said.

graft craft

■ Around 22 appointments made by NCSC chief PL Punia came under the PMO scanner

■ Certain State and District Coordinators for SC and OBC were flaunting their VVIP status, PMO told