With the G20 Summit over, the Congress has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to shift his focus to domestic issues that are crying for attention: high prices, unemployment, corruption, crony capitalism and the unending violence in Manipur.

“Modi is desperately trying to divert attention from the real concerns. But the people want to see the truth instead of getting misled by diversionary tactics,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said.

“The Modi government should heed the indications about the people’s yearning to show it the exit door in the 2024 elections.”

Kharge alleged the government was trying to suppress “a flood of scams”.

“There is a flood of scams (under) Modi’s misrule. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has found several instances of corruption in the government,” he said.

“In Jammu and Kashmir, a shocking case of harassment of a Dalit IAS officer has been reported only because he exposed corruption of Rs 13,000 crore in the Jal (Shakti) ministry of the central government.”

The Congress held a news conference to demand accountability on this issue, with spokesperson Pawan Khera saying: “IAS Ashok Kumar Parmar, who has exposed a massive scam worth Rs 13,000 crore in the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, has been transferred to a junior level position.

“Parmar has an impeccable record in service and has listed out the names of IAS officers who have, according to a series of documentary evidence, indulged in huge acts of corruption.”

Khera added: “It seems that the top echelons of the Modi government, the Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha have promoted these corrupt officers named by Parmar.

“But the whistleblower Parmar is being punished by demoting him from principal secretary, Jal Shakti department, to the ARI & trainings department, even though, with 30 years of service, his position should have been of financial commissioner.”

Khera said Parmar, who is from Gujarat, had written to the National Commission for the Schedule Castes complaining of harassment on caste lines and intimidation.

“The scam included several violations: Tendering without technical sanctions and administrative approval; schemes were split to hide irregularities; abandoning the practice of composite tender; substandard work and execution by the contractors in almost every district; no expert consultants hired,” Khera said.

“In his comprehensive complaint dated August 17, Parmar has made startling revelations that LG Manoj Sinha, on June 6, 2022, had thrown him out of the meeting room with the objective to harass and humiliate him without any fault and this was done in front of all the administrative secretaries of UT of J&K.

“Parmar was transferred four times in a year. Some of the corrupt officers named by Parmar have been promoted.”

Wondering why a comprehensive inquiry had not been ordered into this alleged scam, Khera said: “Who is the mastermind of this humongous scam of Rs 13,000 crore? Is it the LG Office who allegedly indulged in tasks of omission and commission? Right now, only the small fish has been marked, but where is the big fish? Where did this looted money go? Whose pockets were being loaded?”