Delhi ACB Summons Manish Sisodia And Satyendar Jain In Rs 2,000-Crore Classroom Construction Irregularities Case

The Delhi government's Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has summoned former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain in connection with an alleged Rs 2,000-crore scam involving irregularities in the construction of school classrooms, reported Hindustan Times.

Satyendar Jain has been asked to appear before the ACB on 6 June, while Manish Sisodia is scheduled for questioning on 9 June.

The summonses come over a month after the ACB registered a criminal case against the two AAP leaders on 30 April.

The case pertains to alleged financial improprieties and inflated costs in the construction of 12,748 classrooms at government schools during the previous AAP government's tenure.

The enquiry was initiated after several BJP leaders filed complaints.

“The construction was ostensibly aimed at expanding classroom capacity in government-run schools, but our investigations revealed that each classroom was constructed at an average cost of Rs 24.86 lakh — nearly five times the market rate of around Rs 5 lakh per room. Though the classrooms were built as semi-permanent structures (SPS), which typically have a 30-year lifespan, the cost was nearly equivalent to that of fully reinforced concrete (RCC) structures with a 75-year lifespan. Surprisingly, no financial justification was given for opting for SPS over permanent structures," joint commissioner of police Madhur Verma, who is also the ACB chief, was quoted as saying by HT.

The contracts were awarded to 34 firms, a majority of which allegedly had links to the AAP.

The ACB has also found that work amounting to Rs 42.5 crore was executed in five schools without floating fresh tenders, further raising eyebrows about transparency.