Anti-Corruption Registers Case Against Manish Sisodia and Satyendra Jain Over Rs. 2,000 Crore Scam in School Construction

New Delhi: The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), GNCTD, has registered a case against former Delhi Ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendra Jain, alleging their involvement in a massive Rs. 2,000 crore scam concerning the construction of school classrooms and buildings in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. The case stems from complaints filed by Harish Khurana, Spokesperson for BJP Delhi Pradesh, Kapil Mishra, MLA, and Neelkanth Bakshi from the BJP’s Media Relations Department.

The allegations revolve around the construction of approximately 12,748 school classrooms, which were built at an extravagant cost of Rs. 2,892 crore, far exceeding the initial budget. According to the tender details, the cost to construct one school room was approximately Rs. 24.86 lakh, whereas similar classrooms could have been constructed in Delhi for about Rs. 5 lakh per room. The project, awarded to 34 contractors, is alleged to have been marred by irregularities and cost escalations.

The report of the Chief Technical Examiner (CTE) from the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), issued on February 17, 2020, raised serious concerns regarding violations of the CPWD Works Manual 2014, GFR 2017, and CVC guidelines. The CTE report also pointed out that several decisions after the awarding of tenders did not comply with the established guidelines, leading to substantial cost escalation and financial losses.

Additionally, it was revealed that the project was supposed to be completed by June 2016, as per the directions of the Expenditure Finance Committee for the financial year 2015-16, with no provision for future cost escalations. However, despite these directives, not a single project was completed within the stipulated time frame, and major deviations in costs were observed.

The CVC’s report also highlighted that the actual cost of constructing the Special Purpose Schools (SPS) classrooms was nearly equal to the cost of permanent school structures, with a per-square-foot cost of Rs. 2,292 against Rs. 2,044–2,416 for permanent structures. This raised concerns that the adoption of the SPS construction model failed to deliver any financial benefit.