Indian Express: Debabrata Mohanty:Tuesday, September, 06, 2011.
Corruption watchdog Transparency International on Monday alleged that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his ministers had hired choppers a number of times during the past six years in their ‘flights of fancy’, causing an expenditure of more than Rs 12 crore.
Under the Orissa Ministers Travelling Allowance Rules, 1954, an aircraft or helicopter can be hired only in emergencies. But Transparency International Board member Biswajit Mohanty who got the data of chopper and chartered flight usage of ministers through two RTI (Right to Information Act) applications, found that many places for which helicopters were hired were a mere two-hour car journey as they were within 150 km of the state capital.
Ministers have used helicopters to visit Angul, Kendrapada, Rahama, Delang, Bhanjanagar, Kalinga Nagar, Biridi, Jagatsinghpur, Kanas, Pipili, Pentha, Anandapur, Bhadrak, Bhandaripokhari, Jajpur, Cuttack, Kaliapani, Rajkanika, Pattamundai, Nayagarh, Narsinghpur and Brahmagiri.
According to the RTI replies, the state has spent more than Rs 12 crore between April 2005 and June 2011 for its ministers and the Chief Minister. A total of 154 trips were made by hired helicopters and chartered aircraft by the Chief Minister and other ministers from 2005 to 2008. While Patnaik made 59 trips with Rs 169 lakh as the total expenditure, the cost incurred for other ministers was Rs 394.42 lakh.
“In a state where over 57 per cent of the population lives on Rs 12 or less a day and with a debt burden of Rs 40,000 crore, such flights of fancy can be described as wastage of taxpayers’ money,” said Mohanty.
From June 11, 2008 to June 20, 2011, a total of 166 trips were made by hired helicopters/aircraft for which the state incurred an expenditure of Rs 808.05 lakh, including charges for cancelled flights due to bad weather. As many as 104 trips were made by the Chief Minister.
The Chief Minister also hired a private chartered aircraft to visit New Delhi for two days in 2010, which cost the state exchequer Rs 12.02 lakh. “Everyday, there are four commercial flights to Delhi from Bhubaneswar airport. Had he gone by a commercial flight, the cost would have been less than Rs 15,000 for a two-way ticket,” Mohanty said, adding that of the total chopper rides, only three were justifiable, since they were undertaken to carry out an aerial survey of flood-hit zones.
Revenue Minister S N Patro was supposed to go to Gajapati district in central Orissa for some official functions by road but decided to hire a private helicopter. He forwarded a note saying the SP had informed him over the phone about a landmine threat. The government ended up paying Rs 2,74,220 for the arrangement.
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