New Delhi : One can expect a lot of fireworks at the forthcoming meeting of the Standing Committee on Communications to be chaired by Mr Somnath Chatterjee. Scheduled to be held within a couple of days, the meeting is likely to take up an issue which has caused much concern in the government circles, particularly in the information and broadcasting ministry. The issue relates to the financial irregularities found in the Directorate of Field Publicity (DFP) of the I&B Ministry in the purchase of portable video projectors.As was reported in this newspaper on Monday, the finance division of the ministry found serious lapses in the purchase of portable video projectors initiated by the DFP. The irregularities included awarding of the tender for three years in a row to a Delhi-based firm, Infinity Systems, despite the company not keeping its commitment; DFP failing to procure the equipment by due date; showing incorrect expenditure related to the purchase of the said equipment; violation of fund utilisation; and misleading the Planning Commission and the Standing Committee on Communications.
The Directorate began replacing its 16mm projectors with portable video projectors during the Eighth Plan, and the scheme got discontinued from this fiscal. But the related issue, that of detection of irregularities in the DFP, may continue to haunt the authorities for a long time. Since the supplier firm-Infinity-is said to be run by son of a former bureaucrat, the issue is likely to turn some heads.
As of now, the most serious objection raised by the finance wing of the I&B Ministry is against the DFP furnishing incorrect and misleading information to the Standing Committee on Communications about the purchase of equipment. According to a government note, it's a serious lapse that incorrect and misleading information has been submitted to the standing committee, which is a parliamentary body.
House panel set to grill I&B unit over projector purchaseAnd that the matter must be brought to the notice of the I&B Minister and Secretary, I&B.
The factually incorrect information furnished to the Standing Committee on Communications include meeting the procurement target for the video projectors and full utilisation of funds provided for the purpose. For instance, DFP and the Information Wing told the Standing Committee that 131 projectors had been procured at an expenditure of Rs 278.40 lakh till December 1999. While, in reality, the unit procured only 116 projectors and incurred an expenditure of only Rs 250.18 lakh till October 2000.
It is exactly this issue of misleading a Parliamentary body which is likely to come up during the Standing Committee meeting scheduled for sometime this week.
Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
