IAS couple's greed their undoing?
BHOPAL: Of the several questions surrounding Bhopal's billionaire bureaucrats Arvind Joshi and his wife Tinu Joshi, the ones most intriguing are what was their modus operandi for minting money, and who blew the whistle on them and why. The questions gain salience because, as a Madhya Pradesh cabinet minister said, "The IAS lobby is in Joshis' support and trying hard to scuttle the probe."
In a peculiar way, the answer to the two questions may be linked. Repeated questioning of some senior bureaucrats revealed that despite a strong backing of the Joshis by the IAS lobby, it's quite likely that it was a woman IAS officer who blew the whistle on the couple's multi-crore deals while Tinu Joshi was principal secretary, women and child welfare.
"Women and child welfare department gets huge grants," said a senior Bhopal bureaucrat. "The empowerment of women and girl child development is one of chief minister's thrust areas. Apart from big budget allocation, this department is also funded by the Centre and the United Nations. Supplies of nutritional supplements is part of the plan," he said.
Not in support of the Joshis, this top civil servant said,
"The state allocates crores of rupees for free distribution of 'panjiri' (a sweet made of high protein mixture of powdered lentils, atta, dry fruit and ghee). This is meant for malnourished children and mothers. But this expenditure was shown only on paper."
It's learnt that Tinu Joshi fought with another senior woman bureaucrat because she was withholding funds for 'panjiri. "The contract was given to suppliers of Tinu's choice, who would then also provide her with the necessary paperwork," the bureaucrat said.
Read more: IAS couple's greed their undoing? - The Times of India
IAS couple's greed their undoing? - The Times of India
