The Bihar government is already facing a number of corruption allegations and, this time, it is over the construction of the Sainik School in Gopalganj district. It has been eight months past the deadline but the school has not yet been handed over to the defence ministry.

The education department has blamed the mining department for the delays. An audit conducted a few months ago found that there were some irregularities to the tune of Rs 1.75 crore in the procurement of white sand for the construction of the school involving fake challans.

The education department has approved Rs 27.59 crore in the second phase of the construction of the school, one part of which is operating out of rented premises.

When CNN-News18 visited the construction site of the school in Gopalganj, which is being built by Bihar State Educational Infrastructure Development Corporation (BSEIDC), the entry gate was closed. The manager of the construction department refused to comment on the situation but said it was not the company’s fault but the mining department’s. A guard stationed at the gate refused to share entry records of vehicles that entered the construction site.

According to the audit, a scrutiny of challans from the BSEIDC showed that white sand was transported on unauthorised vehicles like ambulances, e-ricksaws, autos, scooters and stolen bikes. Records showed that all these vehicles carried white sand from the mining site to the project site, and the company paid carriage cost to the tune of over Rs 1.5 crore on fake challans.

The audit report states that the accountant general was told that 900 cubic feet of sand was procured from Madhepura district, which is over 133 km from the construction site whereas the sand could have been procured within 3 km from Saran.

“This goof-up is a result of human error and lackadaisical attitude of the mining department. We did not get the sand from a nearby site because the mining department did not provide us the facility. We were told to procure the sand from Saran district and got some portion from Maa Bhawani Traders. But after some time, the traders said their stock was over and, only then, was it brought from Madhepura, which is farther. Sand and transport costs drastically increased due to this,” proprietor Vinod Kumar told CNN-News18. He had acquired the tender to build the school.

Asked about the vehicles listed on the challans, Kumar said, “Nobody checks the registration number of the transport vehicle. This was a human error and, due to typing mistakes, such entries were made. We have submitted our challans to the authorities but don’t know how this happened.”

The details of these vehicles were not found in the order book at the site, as per the audit report. This only indicates that either the materials never reached the site or there is a possibility of the use of white sand through illegal mining.

CNN-News18 could not reach the district magistrate at Gopalganj as he was on leave. The acting DM is looking into the matter and has formed an inquiry committee. But the officer refused to comment on the status of the probe and said he did not want public attention on the issue. A few days ago, acting DM Abhishek Ranjan while speaking to local media persons, had given contradicting statements on the matter. He first denied receiving any report from the probe team and then later said he had received it.

“We are still investigating, I haven’t received the report…I have received one, we are looking into it and proper action will be taken,” Ranjan had said.

“We should not jump to any conclusion. Without any political uproar, the district administration has taken up this issue and an investigation has been conducted by a committee. The report was not satisfactory, so more questions were added and the report was sent back for further investigation. Action will be taken against those who are found guilty,” JDU MLC Neeraj Kumar told CNN-News18.

However, BJP MLA and former minister Neeraj Singh Bablu compared the corruption in the construction of the Sainik School to the fodder scam.

“It reminds us how chara (fodder) was carried through scooters and other vehicles in the 90s. The Bihar government has been involved in corruption and its officers are in a nexus with private companies. There should be a proper investigation by competent authorities,” he said.