Stir over, who’ll pay the bills?

Raje govt gets a bill of Rs1.3 cr for ‘agitation-tourism’ of ministers, officials

JAIPUR: The Gurjar stir became a tourism event for influential people within and outside the government who took turns to view their struggle-on-tracks from hired helicopters and aeroplanes. The department of tourism has slapped a whopping bill of Rs1.3 crore on the government for settling the cost of seven helicopters and an aeroplane hired by state government during the Gurjar agitation in June this year.

Normally, the department of civil aviation is responsible for hiring aircraft, but this time the bills for the helicopters during Gurjar agitation were generated by the tourism department. The department has forwarded the bills to the home department where the authorities are in a fix over payment.

What was appaling that ministers and people neither entitled nor expected to go on an aerial survey took the trips on public money slapping the government with a hefty bill. Not only this, half of the hired helicopters were not even pressed into service and remained parked at the airport in Jaipur.

Congress MLA Sanyam Lodha told DNA that there were confirmed reports that the helicopters were misused as unauthorised persons were allowed to use the same for aerial round of the agitation-affected areas.

“The helicopters were used as if the officials were going on a picnic. Was there any need of the aerial visit of the BJP state chief OP Mathur, MP Ram Das Agarwal, and officials of the level of additional DGP and bureaucrats. A few helicopters were not even used and were hired to favour the firms. It is misuse of public funds,” he said.
Rules say that only the CM, ministers concerned, the DGP and the principal secretary are entitled to use helicopter to visit areas affected by violence or natural calamities.