‘Happy if someone gives willingly’: Madhya Pradesh engineer suspended over bribe remark

The Madhya Pradesh government has suspended a Panna-based executive engineer of the Water Resources Department after his remarks that he accepted money offered voluntarily, even if he did not demand it, went viral on social media.

C B Ahirwar, executive engineer in the Water Resources Department’s Panna division, was suspended with immediate effect through an order issued by the department on October 30. The suspension order described his conduct as “unbecoming” of a government servant and said his remarks amounted to a violation of the state’s service rules.

The action came two days after he made the remarks to the media following a Lokayukta operation in which two employees of his department were allegedly caught accepting a bribe of Rs 45,000.

The Sagar Lokayukta police had caught two Water Resources Department employees in Panna on October 27, allegedly accepting Rs 45,000 from a contractor in connection with the clearance of a pending payment.

The contractor, Gaurav Tomar, a registered contractor from Gwalior, was executing construction work on a canal sluice under the Majhgayan Medium Project. According to reports, three of his bills had been cleared, while the department employees were allegedly demanding money for approving his fourth and final bill.

After Tomar approached the Lokayukta police, the complaint was verified and a trap was laid. Divisional accounts officer Deepak Singh Parmar and assistant grade-II employee Arvind Kumar Pathak were allegedly caught accepting the money.

Ahirwar was not among those allegedly caught in the Lokayukta operation. However, when asked whether he had a fixed percentage for contractors, Ahirwar told the media: “Look, sir, we have no fixed percentage. If someone gives something willingly, I’m happy with it. I tell them beforehand, brother, if you are giving it willingly, then give it. I have no fixed percentage. This has been the policy since I joined the office”.

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When told that accepting money voluntarily was also a crime, he acknowledged that it was illegal but maintained that he accepted money if it was offered willingly.

“Yes, it is a crime. But we accept it willingly. What does willingly mean? Someone might say, ‘Here, take this, there are sweets in front of you, take them.’ We have never told anyone that we want only two rotis or that we want four rotis,” he said.

Asked whether he demanded money from contractors, Ahirwar said he had never asked anyone for money and was satisfied with his government salary.

“We do not demand money from anyone. Whatever someone gives willingly, we accept it. Our elders also taught us never to ask anyone for anything. We do our duty, we are getting a salary, and we are happy with it. We are not doing this job thinking that we will get something from here. We are doing our job, raising our children, and working with the salary we receive,” he said.

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The suspension order, issued by the Water Resources Department in Bhopal, said Ahirwar made the statement on October 28 and that it was subsequently circulated on social media.

“Shri C B Ahirwar’s conduct is contrary to the behaviour expected of a government servant and is unbecoming, reflecting indiscipline,” the order said.

It further stated that his conduct fell under the category of misconduct and amounted to a violation of Rule 3(1)(a) of the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1965.

The government suspended Ahirwar under Rule 9(1)(a) of the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1966. During the suspension period, his headquarters will be the office of the Chief Engineer, Water Resources Department, in Bhopal. He will be entitled to subsistence allowance.