• Burmese
Saturday, May 24, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
30 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Asia

India State to Probe Corruption in Low-caste Parks

Biswajeet Banerjee by Biswajeet Banerjee
May 16, 2012
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
A A
India State to Probe Corruption in Low-caste Parks

Workers erect scaffolding to cover statues of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati in Lucknow. (Photo: Reuters)

1.8k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

LUCKNOW, India—The parks filled with statues were heralded as a celebration of India’s lowest caste. Authorities in Uttar Pradesh state are now investigating whether the billion-dollar project was an elaborate swindle.

India has been rocked in recent years by corruption scandals involving government contracts for everything from mining rights to the sale of cellphone spectrum.

However, none threatens to deliver the same symbolic blow as Uttar Pradesh’s investigation into parks honoring the contribution of dalits, the lowest Hindu caste, to the nation, including the father of the constitution, B.R. Ambedkar.

RelatedPosts

Pills Pour Over Border from India to Fuel Burma’s Narcotics Boom

Pills Pour Over Border from India to Fuel Burma’s Narcotics Boom

August 9, 2016
3.8k
Militia-Backed Rangoon High-Rise Defies Govt Suspension Orders

Militia-Backed Rangoon High-Rise Defies Govt Suspension Orders

August 5, 2016
6.2k
Lawmakers Blame Burma’s Drug Problem on Warlord-Govt Nexus

Lawmakers Blame Burma’s Drug Problem on Warlord-Govt Nexus

August 4, 2016
4.5k

The northern state’s government is investigating millions of dollars it says were misappropriated by former Chief Minister Mayawati’s administration as it built the statues and monuments.

“We said during election time that a large-scale scam has been committed,” new Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said on Tuesday, adding that former ministers are among people likely to be investigated.

He suggested hundreds of millions of dollars were wasted in planting trees that were later uprooted, building and tearing down structures repeatedly and inflating contract prices. It was not immediately clear how much of the project’s estimated US $1.8 billion budget may have been misspent.

Mayawati’s party has not responded to requests from journalists for comment.

The park project of Mayawati, herself a dalit, has been a magnet for criticism in one of India’s poorest states, where tens of millions suffer from malnutrition and many still die from treatable diseases such as cholera and diarrhea.

Though she spent more on parks than on medical supplies, Mayawati, who uses one name, has insisted the sprawling pavilions brought a long-overdue sense of pride to the dalit community.

The five concrete-paved parks are filled with statues of famous dalits, formerly called “untouchables,” who rose to power and prominence. They include Mayawati and the late founder of her dalit-based party.

 

Dozens of larger-than-life statues of elephants, her party’s symbol, also adorn the parks. Police are investigating how Mayawati’s administration paid about $15 million for 130 stone elephant statues, or more than $115,000 each, while the artisans were promised only one-tenth that price.

“The actual cost should have been much less,” said Ram Bahadur Yadav, an official in Uttar Pradesh’s new government.

One Agra-based artisan told police he carved 11 statues for $9,800 each, but more than a year after delivering them still has only been paid a quarter of that, police deputy inspector general Ashutosh Pandey said.

Akhilesh Yadav also said money was misappropriated when buildings and walls were constructed, destroyed and then rebuilt repeatedly in the parks. Palm and date trees were planted only to be uprooted and thrown away. Many contract prices were inflated, he said.

Separately, police also recently arrested 11 people after a federal audit showed $1 billion in state rural health funds had been misappropriated.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Drug & Crime
Biswajeet Banerjee

Biswajeet Banerjee

The Associated Press

Similar Picks:

Video Journalist Recounts a Death Amid the Chaos
Burma

Video Journalist Recounts a Death Amid the Chaos

by Myat Su Mon
September 27, 2013
9.5k

Yan Naing, a video journalist at the Democratic Voice of Burma tells of capturing the shooting of Kenji Nagai during...

Read moreDetails
Experts Reject Claims of ‘Rohingya Mujahideen’ Insurgency
Burma

Experts Reject Claims of ‘Rohingya Mujahideen’ Insurgency

by Paul Vrieze
July 15, 2013
21.6k

Security experts say it is possible that some militant Rohingyas have contacted Indonesian hardline Muslim groups, but they dismiss reports...

Read moreDetails
Wa Tycoon’s Jade Ties Exposed in New Report
Burma

Wa Tycoon’s Jade Ties Exposed in New Report

by Seamus Martov
December 4, 2015
9k

A new report by Global Witness exposes links between the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and Burma’s notoriously shady jade...

Read moreDetails
Activists Urge Harsher Penalty for Child Rape Case in Burma
Burma

Activists Urge Harsher Penalty for Child Rape Case in Burma

by The Irrawaddy
August 6, 2013
7.6k

A restaurant owner in Rangoon is sentenced to eight years in prison for raping a 15-year-old girl, the victim’s lawyer...

Read moreDetails
Book Details Coming Struggle to Kick Burma’s Drug Habit
Burma

Book Details Coming Struggle to Kick Burma’s Drug Habit

by Bertil Lintner
March 24, 2016
5.2k

Burma’s struggle to curb the illicit narcotics trade across its border with China and other neighbors is among the major...

Read moreDetails
At the Khun Sa Museum
Photo

At the Khun Sa Museum, the House that Drugs Built

by Saw Yan Naing
October 1, 2015
1.3k

The old military camp of the Mong Tai Army is now a museum celebrating the life of its commander, a...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Blind Activist Tells US Congress of Chinese Cruelty

Blind Activist Tells US Congress of Chinese Cruelty

Suu Kyi Backs US Suspending Burma Sanctions

Suu Kyi Backs US Suspending Burma Sanctions

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

China’s Two-Faced Diplomacy in Myanmar

China’s Two-Faced Diplomacy in Myanmar

5 days ago
2.4k
‘Indian Troops Killed Myanmar Resistance Fighters to Send a Message’

‘Indian Troops Killed Myanmar Resistance Fighters to Send a Message’

2 days ago
2.2k

Most Read

  • Dead or Alive: Min Aung Hlaing’s Final Gamble

    Dead or Alive: Min Aung Hlaing’s Final Gamble

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Adidas Shoe Factory Agrees to Striking Workers’ Demands

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • AA’s Political Wing Imposes Rakhine Travel Ban

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ‘Indian Troops Killed Myanmar Resistance Fighters to Send a Message’

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Has the Revolutionary Spirit Gone? Shan Armed Forces in Crisis as Public Doubts Grow

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.