Congress legislators have demanded a probe into the procedural violations in executing works to desilt channels using funds donated by individuals at the behest of Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi.
Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Parliamentary Secretary to the Chief Minister K. Lakshminarayanan and Government whip R. K. R Anantharaman said the Lt Governor had misused her official position to solicit funds from individuals to de-silt channels.
The government should order a probe into misuse of power by the Lt Governor in collecting funds from public without following procedures, he said.
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As per the CSR policy unveiled by the Industries Department in 2011, the committee headed by the Chief Minister had to give its approval for collecting donations from people for taking up public works or a public cause.
No nod from committee
The initiative taken up by the Lt Governor did not have the approval of the committee, he said.
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As per rules, money should be collected from individuals, institutions and firms only after checking their track record, said Mr. Lakshminarayanan.
“The Lt. Governor has violated the rule by collecting money from medical colleges which are under the CBI scanner. She herself had spoken against these institutions during the admission process,” he said.
Terming the outcome of her initiative as an irony, he said just a few months ago she had reprimanded officials from the Health Department for hobnobbing with the medical colleges. Now, the Lt. Governor was asking officials in the Public Works Department to coordinate with these institutions to execute the work, Mr. Lakshminarayanan said.
Mr. Anantharaman said the Lt. Governor was trying to cover up the “scam” by bringing fake donors to make claims about their voluntary contribution.
When sought his comments on her statement that the programme was not strictly a CSR initiative, Mr. Anantharaman said Ms. Bedi should then answer why she has formed a “CSR Desk” at Raj Nivas for de-silting work.
She had failed to give a clear answer on how the money was collected, how it was spent, how the estimate for the work was calculated and on the amount collected, he said.
“It is a scam because money was spent for public works without inviting a tender,” he said.