Business class tickets, luxe hotels & more: 3 Chandigarh IAS officers exposed for misusing public money
PTC News Desk: Three senior IAS officers spent an additional Rs 6.72 lakh of the public's money on a trip to Paris in June 2015 by extending their stay and upgrading their hotel accommodations, according to an audit report by the Director General of Audit (Central), Chandigarh.
The three bureaucrats, Vijay Dev, then adviser to the Chandigarh administrator; Anurag Agarwal, then Chandigarh home secretary; and Vikram Dev Dutt, then secretary (personnel), are now under scanner for misusing public funds. In addition, the three senior IAS officers went on a tour originally intended for a lower-ranking official, the UT chief architect.
The 2015 Paris Trip
In 2015, the Foundation Le Corbusier Paris, France sent an invitation for a meeting commemorating the 50th anniversary of architect Le Corbusier's death, to be held on June 15 at Villa Savoye in Poissy.
A letter was sent to the Director, Services, Ministry of Home, Delhi, requesting cadre clearance for three Chandigarh administration officers to attend a one-day meeting.
However, the three IAS officers extended the one-day tour to seven days without authorization. According to the rules, if foreign travel exceeds five days, approval from the screening committee is required; however, the audit found that no approval was obtained for the seven-day visit.
According to the audit report, a visit abroad by a secretary-level officer could only be recommended if the lower-ranking officer was not available. The report further says that the one-day tour was extended to June 12 to 18, 2015, with air travel and hotel bookings made through a private travel agent.
The audit has raised concerns about this, as the air ticket should only be purchased from an agency authorised by the Government of India.
By extending the tour, the hotel stay cost increased to Rs 9.10 lakh for the then adviser, and Rs 4.43 lakh for the other two officers.
The officers upgraded their lodging bookings from "Inter-continental Hotel" to "Le Royal Hotel," increasing the cost to Rs 17,97,360 and incurring an unauthorised expenditure of Rs 6,72,284, at the taxpayer's expense.
According to the report, Vijay Dev spent an additional Rs 4.71 lakh, while Vikram Dev and Anurag Aggarwal each spent an extra Rs 1 lakh.
According to RK Garg, a senior citizen who obtained the audit report under the RTI Act, the CAG should review the TA bills of all officers who spent more than Rs 10 lakh per year on travel in the previous five years.
- With inputs from agencies
