The opposition Congress in the Uttarakhand assembly on Friday demanded an SIT probe into alleged irregularities in the purchase of a fleet of 150 buses by the state Roadways Department.
Raising the issue in the post-lunch session of the state assembly, Leader of Opposition Indira Hridayesh said three of the 150 buses, which were initially introduced, were found to be technically faulty and unfit to drive.
"Gear boxes and clutches of the buses manufactured by a prestigious firm like TATA Motors did not work and the luggage cabinets came off as soon as baggages were put into them," Hridayesh said, adding that officials and drivers of the the department had refused to ply the buses due to safety reasons.
The entire fleet was lying unused in depots while old and ramshackle buses continue to run, she said.
Alleging a large-scale corruption in the purchase of the fleet, she demanded an SIT probe into the irregularities.
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"The matter points to corruption in the department as the buses were bought without being examined in violation of the procedures," Hridayesh said.
She said a government which claimed zero tolerance to corruption should not shy away from the probe.
Chakrata MLA and pradesh Congress president Pritam Singh also demanded an SIT probe, saying travelling in the buses could have led to the loss of life.
"We suspect a massive scam in this. A govt claiming zero tolerance to corruption is in the dock over the issue," Singh said.
Casting doubts on the state government's commitment to weed out corruption, the Congress leader said if the government was serious, it would have appointed a lokayukta within 100 days of coming to power.
"Why was the lokayukta thrown into the dustbin? You had promised to constitute the body within 100 days of coming to power. It is nearly three years but there is no lokayukta," Singh said.
State Roadways Minister Yashpal Arya said the allegations by the opposition were unfounded.
He claimed that proper procedures were followed to buy the buses.
"They (opposition) have produced nothing to substantiate their charges of corruption," he said.
However, he admitted that serious technical faults were cited in the buses.
"We immediately withdrew the buses from the roads and the entire fleet has been kept in abeyance so as not to risk lives of people," he said.
Arya informed the house that a team of experts was visiting the state on December 14 to see if the buses were fit for use.
He said a departmental inquiry was on to see where things went wrong.
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