Zee
News: New Delhi: Saturday, 30 May 2015.
When lakhs of
people in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand went hungry during the 2013 disaster,
officials of the state government savoured mutton chops, chicken, milk and
cottage cheese in the course of their Rs 7000 per day hotel stay supervising
relief efforts.
From claiming
Rs 194 for half a litre of milk to supplying diesel to two-wheelers, claiming
more than Rs 7,000 per day for hotel stay, paying relief twice to same people,
purchasing 1,800 rain coats from same shop for three days to making payment of
Rs 98 lakh towards fuel purchase to a helicopter company, a string of financial
bunglings have come to light through responses to RTI queries.
Taking
cognizance of these alleged irregularities when Uttarakhand was reeling under
one of the worst natural disasters, state Information Commissioner Anil Sharma
has suggested a CBI probe.
In a 12-page
order, passed after hearing complainant Bhupendra Kumar of National Action
Forum for Social Justice, Sharma has taken note of bills provided by various
districts in response to RTI queries seeking to know details of funds spent on
relief work in the aftermath of the tragedy that claimed 3000 lives, with many
still missing.
Records
provided by the authorities showed that some of the relief works began on
December 28, 2013 and got over on November 16, 2013, full 43 days before having
been launched.
Some other
works were shown to have started in Pithoragarh on January 22, 2013, six months
before the tragedy struck on June 16, 2013.
"From
the records produced by the appellant, the Commission prima facie believes that
appeal of the complainant along with all the annexure be sent to Chief
Secretary, Uttarakhand, with the direction that it should be brought to the
notice of the Chief Minister so that he can decide on initiating a CBI inquiry
into these allegations," Sharma said in the order.
Citing over
200 pages of records received from authorities
in response
to his RTI petitions, Kumar claimed during the hearing at SIC that while people
starved without a roof on their head, officials in worst-affected Rudraprayag
district claimed Rs 250 for breakfast, Rs 300 for lunch and Rs 350 for dinner,
totalling Rs 900 per day, apart from hotel stay that cost Rs 6750 per night.
Kumar alleged
that total expenditure per officer per day hovered around 7000 as he questioned
the "obscene expenses".
He claimed
the records showed diesel bills of 30 litres and 15 litres for vehicles bearing
registration numbers of scooters, motorcycles and three-wheelers. "These
vehicles run on petrol and do not have such fuel tank capacity as shown in the
bills," he said during the hearing.
Kumar also
provided records to show that Rs 98 lakh worth of fuel bills for four days had
been cleared for a helicopter company.
"There
are instances when the hotel stay of officers have been shown for period before
the tragedy struck on June 16, 2013. The price for half litre of milk has been
shown as Rs 194, while items like mutton, chicken, eggs, gulab jamun are also
shown much higher than market rates," Kumar said.
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