7 sacked over Madhya Pradesh fund misuse before related videos surfaced: Official

The Madhya Pradesh government dismissed seven officials, issued show-cause notices, and stopped increments for 135 others over alleged misuse of funds in municipal tendering, a top official said, insisting the action started before old videos related to the irregularities went viral last Friday.

Additional chief secretary (urban development department) Sanjay Dubey detailed the action against 392 officials on Sunday, two days after the videos surfaced. He clarified that the videos were not intended to promote irregularities but were part of an April training session to sensitise officials about their responsibilities and the department’s oversight mechanism.

Dubey said that the objective was to prevent irregular payments, overspending beyond prescribed limits and misuse of public funds. He added that around ₹3-4 crore was recovered and action was also taken against over 80 contractors and suppliers.

“Depending on the cases, recoveries were made, and disciplinary action such as withholding of increments, demotion, or dismissal was taken. Action is still ongoing,” he said.

He said officials blamed private contractors and suppliers but failed to justify their actions, leading to the action.

Opposition Congress state president Jitu Patwari said, “We will take this matter to every citizen...how a bulb and a bucket were purchased for ₹36,000 and ₹2 lakh. This is how the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party]-led state government is working.”

In the videos that went viral, Dubey is heard pointing out that one municipal body purchased a vehicle for ₹2 lakh while another spent ₹6 lakh for a similar vehicle, which included four dustbins.

Some municipal bodies spent as much as ₹1.5 crore on waste-collection vehicles, even though they lacked enough wards to justify the spending. “What exactly is happening here in the name of government procurement?” Dubey is heard asking in one of the videos.

He suspected that the cost was inflated by adding extra items and that the procurement was routed through favored parties.

Significant price discrepancies in the procurement of identical items were highlighted at the training programme.

Dubey cited the example of a phenolic disinfectant, noting it cost ₹5 per liter in one instance. He added the price for a similar product elsewhere was recorded at ₹33,500.

“A 60-watt LED light was purchased for ₹306 in one location, whereas in Bhopal, the cost for the same item was recorded at ₹11,800. The total value for this procurement in Bhopal was reported to be ₹3.78 lakh,” he is heard saying in the video