As people starved, officers relished mutton, chicken

New Delhi, May 29

When lakhs of people in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand went hungry during the 2013 disaster, state government officials supervising relief efforts savoured mutton chops, chicken, milk and cottage cheese during their Rs 7,000 per day hotel stay.

From claiming Rs 194 for half a litre of milk to supplying diesel to two-wheelers, claiming more than Rs 7,000 per day for hotel stay, paying relief to the same people twice, purchasing 1,800 raincoats from the same shop for three days to making a payment of Rs 98 lakh towards fuel purchase to a helicopter company, a string of financial bunglings have come to light through responses to various RTI queries.

Taking cognisance of the alleged irregularities when Uttarakhand was reeling under one of the worst natural disasters, state Information Commissioner Anil Sharma has suggested a CBI probe.

In a 12-page order, passed after hearing complainant Bhupendra Kumar of the National Action Forum for Social Justice, Sharma has taken note of bills provided by various districts in response to the RTI queries seeking to know details of funds spent on relief work in the aftermath of the tragedy that claimed 3,000 lives, with many still missing.

Records provided by the authorities showed that some relief works began on December 28, 2013, and got over on November 16, 2013, full 43 days before having been launched. Some other works were shown to have started in Pithoragarh on January 22, 2013, six months before the tragedy struck on June 16, 2013. — PTI