Economic Times: New Delhi: Sunday, July 15, 2018.
For all the
tough talk on launching a probe over the expenditure incurred by Rajya Sabha TV
during the tenure of former Vice-President Hamid Ansari, no such inquiry has
yet been ordered despite rounds of audit and neither any corruption complaint
filed.
This was
disclosed by the Rajya Sabha TV in response to a RTI query in the subject.
There were reports earlier that Ansari’s successor Vice-President M. Venkaiah
Naidu had ordered a expenditure and performance audit of the channel with an
intent of uncovering a major corruption scandal.
To the
specific query on whether any inquiry has ever been ordered against Rajya Sabha
TV since its inception, the RTI reply states: “No such information is
available.”
The applicant
also sought to know about the name, address and other details of any person or
entity, which has made any corruption complaint against RSTV, till March 28,
2018- the date of filing the RTI application. The response is that no such
information is available in record.
Regarding the
allegations that RSTV had spent rupees 1700 crores, the RTI reply showed that
its actual expenditure since inception till March 31, 2017 was way lower at
about Rs 345.6 crore.
In reply to
another query, the RTI reply is that the total expenditure incurred by the RSTV
in the financial years 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18, the period under question,
was about Rs 224.5 crores.
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