AAUA alleges corruption in watershed projects, demands probe

A CORRESPONDENT

LAKHIMPUR: A massive corruption scam has been alleged with regard to implementation of the aspiring watershed projects through the Lakhimpur Soil Conservation Division. Though the Union Government has allocated crores of funds to the State with a view to providing optimum benefits to riverine farmers through the watershed projects, at present they have allegedly turned to the center of corruption in the district instead of being the farmers' friend.

Notably, the Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development has been implementing an area development programme named Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) principally for the development of rainfed portions of net cultivated area and culturable wastelands. The activities undertaken inter alia include ridge area treatment, drainage line treatment, soil and moisture conservation, rain water harvesting, nursery raising, aforestation, horticulture, pasture development, livelihoods for asset-less persons, etc.

Under Lakhimpur Soil Conservation Division, several such projects have been implemented across the district at present. In these regard, All Assam Unemployed Association (AAUA) president Dharmendra Deuri and secretary Jiban Rankhowa through a press release alleged that though the Soil Conservation Division has to organize campaign to aware the benefits of the programme concerned among the masses to ensure the projected development and to provide employment to the unemployed youths through the projects, it has not been done in reality.

"Instead of it, the Watershed Management Committees in the district are constituted in the presence of limited number of people in a view to siphoning off the allotted funds. In this regard, we have demanded the Deputy Commissioner of the district to launch an impartial probe into the doubtful progress of implemented schemes", stated the AAUA president-in charge and secretary in the press release.

Further, the organization raised a complaint that the Lakhimpur Soil Conservation Division office had supplied deluded, misleading information as a reply to the application filed under RTI Act, 2005 by Lakhimpur district unit AAUA vice president Raju Das regarding the issue.

"Despite there are 40 to 48 active Watershed Management Committees in the district at present, only 13 such committees are showed in the information sought under RTI Act after a three month long period. On the other hand no information was supplied about the Development Committees of the Water Harvesting Ponds dug under IWMP. It is observed that these ponds are individually managed by the secretaries of the committees concerned," stated the press release.

The AAUA president-in charge and the secretary demanded to stop privatization of the Water Harvesting Ponds and to install signboard with detailed information about every scheme under IWMP for the public knowledge.

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