Multi-crore scam in Haryana, private firm's directors booked

Tribune News Service

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Chandigarh, April 30

A multi-crore scam has surfaced in the Haryana State Rural Livelihood Mission (HSRLM)’s Grameen Kaushal Yojana. The firm engaged for the project allegedly siphoned crores, while the rent deeds of training centres and firm’s bank guarantee were found to be fake.

HSRLM gets targets and mandates from the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), and it allocates work to various vendors and agencies, besides monitoring the scheme’s implementation. ISEE Staffing Solutions Private Limited, Bengaluru, was engaged for skill training of 1,050 rural youths in Haryana with a condition that at least 750 of them should get employed within 36 months. The contract was for Rs 8.43 crore.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was executed between the HSRLM and ISSE Staffing Solutions on September 8, 2021, where Director T Hari Prasad represented the firm.

The skill training was to start from November 28, 2021. On October 28, 2021, HSRLM released 25 per cent of the contract amount (Rs 2.09 crore) to the firm.

The firm was told to open a zero-balance subsidiary account and transfer the allocated amount to a state nodal account (SNA), as per new guidelines of the MoRD. After various reminders and follow-ups, only Rs 50.80 lakh was transferred on December 30, 2021.

As 75 per cent of the total allocated fund was spent within a month, HSRLM officials got suspicious. Some officials visited the respective centres of the firm and allegedly found that nothing had been done for the scheme’s compliance.

It was found that the rent agreements submitted and approved by HSRLM and the funds transferred to the vendor by sub-leasing the property for training centres were not the same as what was submitted at the time of signing of the MoU by the firm.

All deeds provided by the firm were executed with its own sister concerns. Even the bank guarantee of Rs 1.05 crore submitted by the firm at the time of signing of the MoU was found to be fake, as per a January 28 communication of the Bank of Baroda.

Earlier, the firm approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court for the release of the balance amount. On March 15, the High Court asked the Panchkula police to file a status report. An FIR was registered for alleged criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy on March 17. Besides ISEE Staffing Solutions, SKV Industrial Associates and Sri Sringeri Education Trust were named in the FIR along with their directors and representatives.

A lower court on April 21 rejected the anticipatory bail applications of firm’s director T Hari Prasad, his father-in-law TL Radhapathy (also a director in the firm), his wife TR Sindhuja (trustee of Sri Sringeri Education Trust) and M Divya Prasad (treasurer of the SKV Industrial Associates). The allegations were “extremely serious” and “custodial interrogation may also be required”, the court said.

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