APW member Rajib Deka filed the FIR with the anti-corruption branch of the CBI alleging that Hajela had appointed several retired government officials as his advisors paying them high salaries and giving them new vehicles. However, Deka alleges that there is no record of the work done by these people and neither has the expenditure on them been audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
Deka has also alleged that a large number of school teachers had been appointed to help with the NRC process, and though the records show that they were paid a remuneration, actually the teachers have not received any money. He also alleges that about 10,000 laptops that actually have a market value of Rs 22,500 were purchased at an inflated price of Rs 44,500 and that 11,000 electrical generators were also purchased at double the market price.
Asking for a detailed investigation into how the Rs 1600 crores allocated for the project were actually used, in his complain Deka says, “As per information, an amount of approximately Rs 1600 crore has already been released and we request you to inquire into the whole process of utilisation of the funds as several illegalities and financial irregularities has been committed in making different expenditures.”
It is noteworthy that Hajela came under fire from various right-wing supremacist groups, ethno-linguistic chauvinist forces as well as the Assam state government after the final NRC was published on August 31, 2019. In fact, the first few FIRs were filed against him in early September alleging that under him the NRC had excluded genuine citizens. Hajela had also reportedly received death threats and was shunted out of Assam to Madhya Pradesh at the directions of the Supreme Court given security concerns.
On November 20, Assam Finance Minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma had told reporters that “The state government cannot accept this NRC. People who should not have been included in the list have made it, while those who should have in have been excluded.”
He had further told NDTV, “We believe that the NRC prepared by former state coordinator Prateek Hajela has failed to fulfil the aspirations of the people of Assam. There are many shortcomings, as we have already pointed out. While various groups in Assam have already filed review petitions before the Supreme Court, we now want this faulty list to be scrapped in favour of a nationwide NRC.”
The final NRC left out over 19 lakh people, and a vast majority of those excluded turned out to be Bengali Hindus rather than Muslims who BJP chief Amit Shah had dubbed ‘infiltrators’ and ‘termites’. This inability to exclude a large number of Muslims was seen as Hajela’s failure by right wing supremacist groups determined to derive political capital using communally divisive tactics.
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