Bureaucracy in Gujarat is more corrupt than elected BJP officials. This IAS had a bribe rate card!

The “Gujarat Model” has collapsed into a high-tech extortion racket. While the BJP government beats the drum of “Viksit Bharat,” the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has pulled back the curtain on a sickening reality: the state’s digital flagship, the IORA portal, was being used as a menu for institutionalized bribery. The arrest of young IAS officer, Surendranagar collector Rajendra Patel is just the tip of iceberg of a massive IAS led corruption in Gujarat.

IAS officer Dr Rajendrakumar Mahendra Patel is a Gujarati.

Patel didn’t just take bribes; he industrialised them. The ED has revealed that the former Surendranagar Collector downloaded land-use (CLU) applications from the official government portal and manually appended custom spreadsheet columns to “fix” bribe rates at ₹5 to ₹10 per square metre. Under the BJP’s watch, the Collector’s office had been transformed into a brokerage firm where “speed money” is the only authorized currency.  

Asset Freeze: ED Targets the Money Trail

The legal noose is tightening not just around the bureaucrats, but also the developers who fueled the “Rate Card” system. The ED has moved to freeze the bank accounts and assets of several prominent developers linked to the over 800 applications processed by Patel. Among those under intense scrutiny is witness Chetan Kanzaria, who admitted to paying ₹65 lakh in bribes to fast-track land conversion.  

Investigators are currently mapping a “money trail” that leads from these developers to a maze of shell properties. Already, the ED has identified an Ahmedabad apartment in Patel’s name where rental income was laundered into his mother’s account. The agency’s latest move to freeze the assets of the “pay-to-play” developers signals a massive crackdown on the entire ecosystem of administrative bribery that has flourished under the BJP’s tenure.  

Congress ‘Nyay Yatra’: A Statewide Charge Against Corruption

While the ED works the courtrooms, the Congress is taking the fight to the streets. Building on the momentum of their “Jan Akrosh” (People’s Fury) Rally, the party has announced a massive statewide “Nyay Yatra” (Justice March).

“This is not just one corrupt officer; it is a government of organized loot,” Gujarat Congress President Amit Chavda has said.

“From the sewage in Gandhinagar’s taps to the ‘Rate Cards’ on government portals, the common man is being poisoned and robbed simultaneously. The Nyay Yatra is set to traverse every district in Gujarat, highlighting the BJP’s “Commission-Agent Raj” and demanding a complete judicial audit of the IORA portal”, he added.

The Bureaucratic Shadow: Power Without Accountability

In Gujarat, the democratic hierarchy has been inverted; a “technocratic” obsession has allowed senior IAS officers to eclipse elected MLAs and MPs. This “Babudom” has become a shielded caste, answering only to their political masters while treating the state’s resources as a personal ATM.

By using subordinates like Deputy Mamlatdar Chandrasinh Mori (caught with ₹67.50 lakh in cash) as “collection agents,” these IAS officers ensure a wall of silence. Junior staff are forced to maintain the ‘hisaab’ and handle dirty cash, acting as “human firewalls” while the BJP leadership maintains an air of plausible deniability.  

Also Read: Corruption Free Gujarat Is Myth, According To Reports https://www.vibesofindia.com/corruption-free-gujarat-is-myth-according-to-reports/