The
Tribune: Gurugram: Friday, October 26, 2018.
Congress
leader Capt Ajay Singh Yadav has demanded an inquiry into Chief Minister
Manohar Lal Khattar’s whopping expenditure on air travel.
An
RTI query has brought out that Khattar’s air travel costs Rs 80,000 a day.
“The
RTI information exposes government’s hypocrisy. Khattar started out by claiming
to be a common man. After becoming the Chief Minister, he carried out publicity
stunts using public transport and commercial flights. Within months, he moved
to chartered planes,” Capt Yadav said.
He
accused Khattar of misusing funds on chartered flights. “The Chief Minister’s
Office (CMO) should give reasons for his air travel, while the Prime Minister’s
Office (PMO) needs to inquire as to why farmers are not getting their due while
the CM enjoys such luxury.”
As
per the RTI information provided by the Civil Aviation Department, Rs10.5 crore
was incurred on fuel for the state chopper between October 2014 and July 2018.
The money spent on chartered air services during the same period was Rs9.03
crore. The chartered aircraft or helicopter was hired for Khattar 69 times in
2015, 24 times in 2016 and 15 times in 2017. Most of the air travel made by the
CM was round trips connecting Delhi to Chandigarh, costing around Rs 2.5 lakh
per trip. This is exclusive of foreign travel. According to a senior official,
the state government already has a twin-engine helicopter that was purchased
during the previous Congress regime for 5.5 million euros (Rs33 crore) in 2009.
The
other aircraft Beechcraft King Air 200 also brought during the Congress rule
had crashed in 2014. The Khattar government is set to replace it with a
10-seater Beechcraft King Air 250 which will cost about Rs42 crore.
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