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May 30, 2011

Press Note Eng Dt: 30/05/2011 on Fairs & Festivals (Utsavo)

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Encl :-  Documents

OFFICE OF THE LEADER OF OPPOSITION

Gujarat Vidhansabha, Gandhinagar.

 

Press Note                                                                           30th May, 2011

  • Violating all government rules, crores are collected in the name of different fairs and festivals of Chief Minister.
  • The money collected in the programmes of Chief Minister is not deposited in any government account.
  • As per the information gained under the RTI, Chief Minister and his coterie pockets the money collected in the name of different fairs and festivals.
  • In 2005, Chief Minister took Rs 1.15 crore from a single company for Shardotsav.
  • Rules 12 and 13 ban collection of money or gift in any form, yet Chief Minister is promoting this practice.

Millions are collected in the name of funds for government organized fairs and festivals and programmes of Chief Minister. This is despite the fact that the Service Rules 12 and 13 restrain any government officer from collecting money. What is more is that this fund is not deposited in any government account and is siphoned off fraudulently.

Armed with information gained under the RTI and the provisions of the Gujarat Service (Conduct) Rules, Leader of Opposition, Shaktisinh Gohil said that Chief Minister was using the state administration for the collection of the money illegally. Quoting Rules 12 and 13 of the Service Rules, he said that the law explicitly says that no fund or gift and be collected by government servant in any form directly or indirectly.

Despite this, he said, money is collected in the name of fairs and festivals like Garib Kalyan Mela, Shardotsav, Krushi Mahotsav, Patang utsav and navratri mahotsav. This money is not deposited in any government account. This money is spent arbitrarily without following any transparent and rational procedure like tendering.

On the other hand, he said, if a sarpanch of a small village, gives work of even a petty amount of Rs 5,000 without public notice, he is suspended and is charged with not inviting tenders and not following transparent procedure.

Giving an example he said that the Chief Minister himself accepted cheques of Rs 50 lakh and Rs 25 lakh from Welspun Group in December 2005 for Shardotsav. Later the then Collector  collected a cheque of Rs 35 lakh for government programme. Chief Minister illegally received funds from Welspun Group and gave government land to the group at throw away price. This is an excellent example of the chain of corruption of Chief Minister, he said.

Chief Minister and his coterie pockets the billions collected in the name of different fairs and festivals.

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