In Punjab’s Firozpur district, government officials fabricated a new village on paper and siphoned off lakhs of rupees in government funds. This reminds of a famous verse by renowned poet Adam Gondvi – “In your files, the village’s weather appears rosy, But these figures are false, these claims are mere words.” Through this couplet, Adam Gondvi questioned claims about rural development. However, today’s corrupt officials have gone far beyond what even the poet could have imagined.
Officials created files for a fictional village named Nawan Gatti Rajoke and New Gatti Rajoke. Under the name New Gatti Rajoke, they initiated 55 schemes, using them as a front to embezzle Rs 45 lakh. Shockingly, only 33 development schemes were implemented in the real village, and the fake village received more grants than the actual one. In today’s DNA, Zee News analysed the whole scam:
ओवैसी Vs योगी..ऐसी ‘जंग’ देखी नहीं होगी!
शिव की काशी पर वक्फ का कब्जा कैसे?
बिहार में शिक्षा अधिकारी के बेडरूम में RAID
देखिए DNA LIVE Anant Tyagi के साथ
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With the revelation of this scam, everyone is in disbelief. Residents of the border village themselves are baffled and unable to comprehend the mystery of Nawan and New villages.
The fraud dates back to 2013, during the Akali-BJP government in Punjab. Officials created a fake village on paper and looted lakhs. In 2019, a person discovered the scam and filed an RTI seeking information from the concerned department. Nearly five years later, the RTI response revealed the truth: officials and staff at the time had fabricated a village named New Gatti Rajoke and embezzled huge sums in its name.
Meanwhile, the condition of the real village remains dismal. With the exposure of this elaborate fraud, authorities now promise an investigation and strict action against those involved in this massive scam.
As Shakespeare famously wrote, “What’s in a name?” But the cunning officials of Firozpur turned the words Nawan and New into a conspiracy so audacious that it has left not just Firozpur but all of Punjab stunned.
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