Unauthorised trips abroad may land MC officials in trouble

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, November 17

Officials of the Dharamsala Municipal Corporation, who had been going on foreign trips allegedly at the cost of companies that were looking for contracts under the Smart City scheme or other local government project, might be in trouble.

Sources said a senior MC officer had already been issued a show-cause notice by the state Department of Personnel for going on a foreign trip without the prior permission of the government.

The sources said as per the conduct rules of the Department of Personnel, no official could go on a foreign trip without the prior permission of the state government. The rules also state that permission cannot be given in case the trip was sponsored by the company that are benefitting from the government agency.

In case of the Dharamsala MC, many officials, including municipal engineers and administrative officers, went on foreign trips without the permission of the government and at the cost of the companies or organisations that were directly or indirectly seeking benefit from the corporation or under the Smart City scheme.

The officials of the corporation went to Holland for studying the Smart underground dustbins project. The corporation later gave contract for installing underground dustbins worth Rs 12 crore to a company. The project was now struck off as the previous commissioner of the Dharamsala Corporation insisted for a third party technical inspections of the underground dustbins before the payments were made to the company supplying them.

The officials of the corporation also went to Belarus to study the Skyway project. Later, a MoU was signed with a Belarus-based company to carry out a viability study of the Skyway project in Dharamsala at its own cost.

The opposition leaders at that time had raised questions regarding the viability of the company with which the MoU was signed for implementing the Skyway project in Dharamsala.

The sources said in case of HAS and IAS officers, the Department of Personnel could initiate action against officials who went on foreign trips without the permission of the state government. In case of other employees, like municipal engineers, action can be taken by the Department of Local Bodies.

BJP leaders have already been saying that in case they were voted to power, an inquiry will be marked into the awarding of contracts in the MC.