By IANS,
New Delhi: RTI activist Miloon Kothari Tuesday demanded that the auditor general of India be asked to audit the accounts of the Commonwealth Games following revelations about the illegal diversion of funds meant for Dalit welfare to the Games.
A whopping Rs.744 crore was diverted by the Delhi government from the Special Component Plan (SCP) fund meant for welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. This was revealed by RTI activist Miloon Kothari Tuesday at a press conference here.
The matter led to huge commotion in the Rajya Sabha, with the opposition forcing three adjournments of the house.
Kothari informed that he received information July 30 through an RTI from the Delhi government that Rs.744.354 crore from the SCP has been utilised for the purpose of Commonwealth Games.
According to Kothari, the amount was diverted to organise cultural events at the Queen’s Baton Relay inaugural, water supply for Commonwealth Games and development of the Games Village.
“We will ask the Auditor General of India to audit and investigate the scam and we will not let public money get wasted,” Kothari said.
According to statistics available with Kothari, the government in 2006-07 spent Rs.1.62 crore to meet the expenses of the cultural segment at the Queen’s Baton Relay inauguration.
“In 2007-08, the transport department showed expenditure of Rs.3.89 crore through Public Works Department without any specified target. The amount of Rs.0.59 crore was spent by NDMC for development of roads around Shivaji Stadium, but this was not achieved,” said Kothari.
Similarly, Rs.1.37 crore was allocated to MCD for transport, Rs.9.7 crore to the sports and youth department for development of infrastructure at the Chhatrasal and Thyagraj stadiums.
In 2008-09, the transport department showed an expenditure of Rs.160 crore through PWD and Rs.1.19 crore through NDMC without any specified target. “An additional amount of Rs.12.66 crore was allocated to MCD but nothing shows how much has been spent. The Sports and Youth Department showed an expenditure of Rs.25 crore the same year without any target,” reveals the RTI information.
In a similar manner, a total of Rs.278 crore and Rs.182.5 crore were shown diverted to various departments in the year 2009-10 and 2010-11, respectively. “For transport, an amount of Rs.178.5 crore was allocated to PWD, Rs.4.59 crore to NDMC and Rs.46.24 crore to MCD in 2009-10 for smooth traffic flow and for removing traffic congestion, but there are no figures to show how much was actually spent,” the RTI activist alleged.
Kothari also urged the Delhi chief minister to stop any further diversion of SCP funds toward the CWG.