Top leaders of Assam Public Works, the NGO behind the NRC casein the SC have asked for a probe into corruption charges against Prateek Hajela.
APW president Abhijeet Sharma and general secretary Dhrubajyoti Talukdar met with Hitesh Dev Sharma who took over as the state coordinator of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) after Prateek Hajela was shunted out amidst security concerns. They submitted a nine-page memorandum of demands.
In wake of the recent allegations of corruption against Hajela, APW has demanded that a probe be conducted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). They have also asked for an independent audit of the NRC software, application and IT infrastructure. There is also a fresh allegation that Data Entry Operators of the same immigrant community were employed in NRC Seva Kendras (NSK) in immigrant dominated areas, and that this led to improper verification of family tree and legacy data.
The memorandum names five software developer companies; WIPRO, BOHNIMAN SYSTEM Pvt. Ltd., Maddoc Technologies, Trans Technologies Solutions, and RJ-45 Technologies, involved in the NRC process, and accuses them of committing a corruption of Rs. 100 crores. Previous corruption charges have been about artificially inflating prices of equipment purchased, as well as lack of accountability in paying salaries and giving perks to special advisors hired by Hajela.
It is well known that the present Assam government is unhappy with the outcome of the NRC and considers it unacceptable. There have been vocal demands by prominent leaders to scrap the Assam NRC rendering the Rs 1600 crore Supreme Court monitored exercise a waste of tax payer money.
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