A company floated by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s private secretary has been raising funds and organising events with support from the government, raising questions about a possible violation of rules governing the conduct of civil servants.
Vaibhav Dange was appointed private secretary to the Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping for five years on a contract basis. His appointment was notified on August 8, 2014, with the approval of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
Mr. Dange, an old loyalist of Mr. Gadkari, floated the ‘Indian Federation of Green Energy’ (IFGE) on October 9, 2014, along with Motiram Kisanrao Patil, a resident of Chalisgaon, Maharashtra. Both held 50% shares each. The entity is a Section 8 company, which is meant to operate not for profit.
Mr. Dange was asked whether he may have violated Rule 12 of the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, which says: “No Government servant shall, except with the previous sanction of the Government or of the prescribed authority, ask for or accept contributions to, or otherwise associate himself with the raising of, any funds or other collections in cash or in kind in pursuance of any object whatsoever.”
Charges denied
But he denied the charge. “I categorically and emphatically state that I have not violated any central civil services (conduct) rules or any other service rules in any manner whatsoever ever since I have joined the government service,” he told The Hindu in a written statement.
According to documents from the Registrar of Companies (RoC) database, IFGE has either raised or invited funds, including from government departments and state-owned entities. Its balance sheet shows ₹74 lakh as cash in hand at the end of the financial year 2015. In one of the filings, it declared ₹73 lakh as ‘corpus grant in trust’.
In 2015-16, the balance sheet showed a ‘corpus grant’ of ₹1.33 crore. In the balance sheet for the same year, the company said: “Treatment of Grant in Aid has been made in the accounts as per AS-12 Accounting for Government Grants.” That its filing is declared to be in conformity with the accounting standard required for government grants suggests that the government has extended a grant-in-aid to IFGE.
Mr. Dange told The Hindu that Mr. Gadkari’s Ministry had not allotted any money to IFGE.
However, according to the company’s website, IFGE has been involved in organising conferences and seminars on various topics in partnership with departments and PSUs under Mr. Gadkari. These included: the ‘Global Bamboo Summit’ in April 2016 in Indore, which was supported by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
In May 2017, IFGE was involved in organising a ‘Conclave on Green Ports & Oil Spill Management’ in the Shipping Corporation of India auditorium in Mumbai. It was supported by the Ministry of Shipping, as well as other organisations associated with the Ministry, such as the Sagarmala project. “Ministry of Shipping is supporting this event. Indian Ports Association is the key partner,” the event’s brochure said. The brochure also said a port could become a sponsor of the event by contributing between ₹3 lakh and ₹15 lakh.
Resignation
The Hindu sent a questionnaire to Mr. Dange on November 7. Nine days later, on November 16, IFGE filed documents showing his resignation as its director. The resignation letter filed with the Registrar of Companies states that he resigned on September 13, 2017.
Mr. Dange said that after he joined the government “I resigned from IFGE and accordingly intimated the competent authority. I do not hold any position whatsoever in the IFGE.”
To a set of questions that The Hindu sent regarding subsequent developments such as his resignation from IFGE, Mr. Dange sent a detailed response. He said, “It may be noted that I was involved in setting up IFGE when I was not part of the Government and after joining the Government I took steps to resign from IFGE even though it is open even for full-time, career government officials to undertake any work of literary, scientific or charitable nature.”
“The IFGE, an independent organisation, was started on 30th November 2013 (application to RoC) when I was a private individual and not part of the Government,” he said. However, RoC documents say the company was incorporated only on October 9, 2014, two months after Mr. Dange was appointed Mr. Gadkari’s PS.
“The IFGE has been incorporated as “not for profit” organisation (sec 25/ new sec 8) with no rights or benefits like remuneration, dividend to members. The license under sec 25 was issued by GOI on 24th March 2014 when the UPA was in power at the centre,” he claimed.
50% shareholder
At the time of going to press, RoC documents show that Mr. Dange continues to hold 50% of the shares in the company.
Despite repeated attempts, Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Suresh Prabhu, who are among a galaxy of high profile patrons listed by IFGE, were unavailable for comment. Their offices confirmed receiving the queries sent on November 7. Mr. Gadkari’s office said they were awaiting further instructions from the Minister, while Mr. Prabhu’s office said the questionnaire would be forwarded to officials concerned.
