ACB summons ex-Delhi ministers Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain in classroom construction scam case

NEW DELHI: The Anti-Corruption Bureau has summoned Aam Aadmi Party ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain regarding allegations of a Rs 2,000 crore corruption scam in the construction of government school classrooms in New Delhi. The investigation follows a complaint by BJP leaders claiming inflated costs for semi-permanent classroom construction, with 34 contractors allegedly linked to AAP.Minister Satyendar Jain has been called to appear at the ACB office on June 6, while Manish Sisodia is required to appear in Court on June 9.The complaint was filed by BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana, BJP MLA Kapil Mishra, and Neelkanth Bakshi from the BJP's Media Relations Department.Deputy Commissioner of Police Anti-Corruption Branch Shweta Singh Chauhan revealed that the investigation uncovered significant cost escalations and procurement rule violations."We received a complaint against Manish Sisodia, former Deputy CM, and Satyendar Jain, former PWD Minister... the scam is of over Rs 2,000 crore. The classrooms were semi-permanent structures, and the cost estimate was around Rs 24,00,000 per classroom, which was more than the prevalent market rate back then," Chauhan stated.

"There was a considerable cost escalation by the time projects were completed. The allegations are that the prevalent market rate by then was Rs five lakhs to complete a classroom structure," she added.The complaint details irregularities in constructing approximately 12,748 classrooms at a reported cost of Rs 2,892 crore. The awarded tenders showed a cost of Rs 24.86 lakh per classroom, despite similar structures typically costing around Rs five lakh in Delhi.The project allegedly involved 34 contractors, with most having reported connections to the AAP.ACB chief Madhur Verma noted that during verification, it was discovered that the Expenditure Finance Committee had determined in its 2015-16 meetings that the project should be completed by June 2016 within the sanctioned cost, without allowance for future cost escalations.