When repeated FIRs lodged against an IAS officer
Guwahati, Rongili Barta: Another first information report (FIR) has been lodged against the former State coordinator of National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the system integrator, sub-contractors with other persons alleging corruption and money laundering while updating the NRC in Assam that began in 2014 under supervision of the Supreme Court of India. The petitioner Hitesh Dev Sarma, present NRC State coordinator, has filed the case against Prateek Hajela, an Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer currently posted in his home State of Madhya Pradesh, in the State vigilance & anti-corruption department on 13 June 2022. Dev Sarma, also an IAS officer, claims in the complaint that a huge corruption and money laundering suspectedly took place during the tenure of Hajela in the process of NRC updation. For conducting the updation of NRC program, the system integrator (WIPRO) was given the task of supplying data entry operators (DEOs). The system integrator was not permitted to subcontract any activities related to system design and development, deployment and enhancement of NRC software solution, data centre operation, etc. However, it engaged one sub-contractor for providing data entry operators without any prior approval from the concerned authority. The