JAMMU:On Saturday, a senior assistant in Jammu and Kashmir’s Public Health Engineering department was let go from her position for allegedly taking part in the misappropriation of more than Rs 1.63 crore. According to a directive from Shaleen Kabra, Financial Commissioner-cum-Additional Chief Secretary of the Jal Shakti department, the embezzled funds must also be retrieved from the employee Nikhil Gandral and paid into the government coffers. On December 12, 2019, Gandral, a cashier in this location’s city division I of the Public Health Engineering department, was suspended pending an investigation.A four-person committee was established to investigate and gather the financial irregularities-related revenue information for the period of April 1, 2019, to October 31, 2019. The move against Gandral was timed to coincide with the week-long “Bhrashtachar-Mukt J&K” campaign, which was launched on September 4 and is aimed at combating corruption and fostering open and responsible government. Gandral is also barred from any future job with the government, the judgement stated, capping a slew of inquiries and legal actions against him since 2019. The general administration department later authorised the prosecution against the employee after a FIR was filed against him in the Crime Branch, Jammu, it claimed.
