The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday launched a scathing attack on the Jharkhand government, alleging a massive multi-crore scam within the state’s Skill Development Mission Society involving fake bank guarantees and suspicious financial deals.

During a press conference, BJP state spokesperson Ajay Sah presented documents accusing the department of deliberately bypassing regulations to funnel state funds to blacklisted entities.

According to the BJP, six skill development companies were found guilty of submitting fake bank guarantees in August 2024. The then mission director blacklisted these firms until August 2026.

However, the opposition party claimed current mission director Shailendra Lal manipulated the system just months later. He allegedly lifted the ban under the guise of “public interest.” During a 10-month window, the department cleared payments worth approximately ₹55 crore to these firms.

In August 2025, following the arrest of senior official Vinay Choubey in connection with the fake guarantee case, the department abruptly placed the same companies back on the blacklist, Sah claimed, raising questions about why certain top officials avoided legal consequences while others faced jail.

“How does the secretary of the labour department remain free when another departmental secretary was jailed over the exact same fake bank guarantee issue?” Sah questioned.

The BJP labelled Shailendra Lal, Rajan Srivastava and Vishwaroop Thakur as masterminds of the operation. The party further alleged that the bureaucrats were operating under the direct protection of an influential figure within the chief minister’s office.

With the current blacklisting period set to expire in August 2026, the BJP warned that the government was already positioning itself to award fresh, substantial contracts to these tainted firms.

The BJP sought formal criminal cases to be registered against both the current and former secretaries of the labour department to ensure full accountability for the drained public funds.

JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya, Jharkhand Skill Development Mission director Shailendra Kumar Lal, and manager (programme and operation) of Jharkhand Skill Development Mission Vishwaroop Thakur could not be reached for comments despite attempts. Congress Spokesperson Rakesh Kumar Singh refused to comment on the matter.