Patna, Jan. 23: Susashan, the oft-repeated word that the Nitish Kumar regime tosses about as its USP, is yet to cover Bihar’s grassroots, a report by one of the state’s seniormost bureaucrats has revealed.

Afzal Amanullah, the principal secretary, water resources, prepared a report last year on the implementation of development schemes in Patna district. The report, a copy of which is with The Telegraph, throws up startling data on the widespread irregularities in the schemes, which are part of chief minister Nitish Kumar’s pet projects and formed the basis of his government’s claim of good governance.

Amanullah, who prepared the report on the dint of being the principal secretary in charge of Patna district, based his findings on his visits to Lakhanibigha panchayat in Danapur on May 17 and June 3, 2011. According to official sources, the report, which was submitted to the chief secretary, offered the first hint about the level of corruption taking place in the name of admission in government schools in the state — a scam which the education department itself admitted earlier this month.

The figures mentioned in the report are revealing. According to the 2011 census, the population of Lakhanibigha panchayat, consisting of five villages and spread over 1,134 acres, is 9,310. But the total number of students enrolled in classes I to VIII in six government schools was reported to be 7,105.

“The statistics show that funds and foodgrains are being illegally lifted in the name of mid-day meals for students enrolled in the schools. According to the population of the panchayat, the maximum number of students in the panchayat (35 to 40 per cent of the total population) should be 3,000,” Amanullah, an IAS officer of the 1979 batch, noted in his report. He has also pointed out that the panchayat had several private schools where quite a large number of students studied.

Amanullah stressed the need for a probe and details in his report the quintals of foodgrain and money drawn in the name of mid-day meals.

The report suggests that irregularities are not confined to enrolment in schools, but have spread to other government schemes as well. It points out that there were 1,709 job card-holders under the MNREGA scheme in the panchayat. But for the last six months, jobs had not been made available to the card-holders.

A visit to the local Anganwadi centre revealed that the food was cooked in a single room where children were also being taught. Of the 35 children studying in the centre, 15 were without uniform, puncturing the claim of the government that it gives uniforms to even children studying in Anganwadi centres. The children alleged that they just got one set of uniform, which had become dirty.

The inspection at the local public distribution shop revealed that the weighing machine was faulty. The local people complained that they did not receive diesel subsidy. Of the 50 tubewells installed by the government in the panchayat, only 34 were found to be operational. The only government boring well was defunct for the last 18 months, the report said.

“The situation is not confined to Lakhanibigha alone. It is prevalent throughout the state. The tubewells are not functioning, the poor are not getting foodgrains and there is a massive scam in the name of enrolment in schools. Nitish Kumar’s officials are indulging in loot of public money in the name of Susashan,” said RJD MP Ram Kripal Yadav, stressing that he was not surprised at Amanullah’s report.

However, JD(U) leaders stress that uncovering scams also goes to the credit of the government. “If there are irregularities at the grassroots, it goes to the credit of the Nitish government that it is getting the matters probed and rectified. Even the enrolment scam, which the Opposition is making such a hue and cry about, was probed at the behest of the chief minister,” said JD(U) spokesperson Sanjay Singh.