India, Oct. 26 -- The Madhya Pradesh government dismissed seven officials, issued show-cause notices, and stopped increments for 135 others over alleged misuse of funds in municipal tendering, a top official said, insisting the action started before old videos related to the irregularities went viral last Friday.

Additional chief secretary (urban development department) Sanjay Dubey detailed the action against 392 officials on Sunday, two days after the videos surfaced. He clarified that the videos were not intended to promote irregularities but were part of an April training session to sensitise officials about their responsibilities and the department's oversight mechanism.

Dubey said that the objective was to prevent irregular paymen...