Three Chandigarh IAS officers have come under fire for alleged fiscal extravagance. A report by the Director General of Audit (Central) Chandigarh reveals these claims.
According to this report, in June 2015, the trio spent over INR 6.72 lakhs of taxpayers' money during their trip to Paris. The officers in question include former advisor to Chandigarh administration, Vijay Kumar Dev, Home Secretary Anurag Agarwal, and ex-Secretary (Personnel) Vikram Dev Dutt. They are under investigation for misuse of public funds.
It is alleged that the three officials extended their Paris trip duration indiscriminately, stayed in luxurious hotels, and approved each other's expenses without following due procedures.
The invitation from Paris' Le Corbusier Foundation was in recognition of the Swiss-French architect's 50th death anniversary. Le Corbusier played a pivotal role in drafting Chandigarh's master plan.
The Chandigarh government initially selected four officers for the meeting. Following the Home Ministry's approval, Vijay Dev, Vikram Dev Dutt, and Anurag Agarwal attended the Paris meeting.
The audit report revealed an informal approval process among the IAS officers for the Paris trip. Vijay Dev endorsed Vikram Datt's trip, who in turn approved Vijay Dev's travels, and Dev also sanctioned Anurag Agarwal's journey.
The budget for the Paris trip jumped by 7 lakhs
The initial trip cost was reported to be INR 18 lakhs, which escalated to over INR 25 lakhs. One business class ticket cost INR 1.77 lakhs, with hotel charges also being exorbitant.
The audit findings include that this Paris visit was supposed to be one-day long but got extended to seven days without proper approvals. Generally, foreign trips can be extended to a maximum of five days without explicit permission.
The report also discovered that the invitation was for Chandigarh's chief architect, but instead, three secretary-level officials participated at taxpayers' expense.
It was also revealed that the Le Corbusier Foundation did not finance the officials' trip. One of the IAS officers has since retired, while the other two have been transferred.
In response to the audit report, the Chandigarh Administration has implemented measures to restrict wasteful expenditure. Official trips to Delhi will now be undertaken by train instead of airplane, and officers must stay in government accommodations during official travels.
