Congress MLA Flags 7% Cut Claim in Mangaluru Unit

Bengaluru: Former minister and BJP leader R Ashoka has attacked the Karnataka government after Puttur MLA Ashok Kumar Rai wrote to Chief Minister D K Shivakumar about alleged large-scale corruption and a “7% cut money” demand by engineers of the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL) Mangaluru division.

Ashoka demanded that the KRIDL engineers involved be suspended at once and prosecuted criminally. He further demanded an independent high-level probe into the role of the concerned department minister and the district in-charge minister, and he questioned why the Chief Minister had stayed silent.

Rai, a Congress legislator, said on Monday that he had written to the Chief Minister. Corrupt officials, he said, were bringing a bad name to the government by such practices, and he wanted a crackdown to stop the outrage.

He claimed Executive Engineer Vijay and Junior Engineer Prajwal of KRIDL have been demanding an extra 7% fee from contractors engaged in various development works under the corporation.

The complaint submitted to the Chief Minister alleges that the officials have been collecting monthly payments from contractors by citing the Department Minister’s name. Engineers reportedly threatened contractors who questioned or resisted the demand.

Expressing concern over misuse of public funds, Rai said transparency, quality and strict adherence to rules are critical in public development works. If the allegations prove true, he said, they reflect severe misuse of public money, damage the department’s reputation and undermine public trust.

The Congress MLA urged the Chief Minister to take immediate note, order a thorough investigation and initiate strict disciplinary action against the errant officials. (eom)