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| J&K’s flying machines aptly more in air than on ground | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 19: Amidst lofty claims of austerity in costs of running the government, there are complaints that state owned flying machines are spending more time in air than on the ground. Not the Chief Minister, a half dozen of his cabinet colleagues have gone into habit of boycotting even most convenient routes to frequent flights at cost of state exchequer.
Misuse or overuse of state helicopters had almost become synonym with the National Conference regime of Dr Farooq Abdullah but his successor Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and then Ghulam Nabi Azad put a break. During their tenure, barring emergencies, Mufti and Azad never flew between Srinagar, Jammu or Delhi in helicopters as they always took the routine commercial flights.
However, with return of another National Conference led regime, this time headed by younger Abdullah, the state helicopters are again scripting the same story in the troubled airs. These questions will find an answer in the written reply by the Government to a question being tabled by the Panthers Party leader, Harsh Dev Singh, in the ensuing budget session of the state legislature.
Harsh Dev Singh today said that "I have reports that the Chief Minister, his ministerial colleagues and senior bureaucrats have set a new record during the last two years as far as misuse of Government aircrafts and helicopters is concerned."He said that he has, through a question, asked the Government to give details on the number of sorties carried out by the aircraft and the helicopters.
He said that the Vigilance Organisation had prepared a report on the extent of misuse of the helicopters by the state Government top functionaries and "I will demand tabling of the Vigilance findings."He said that he had demanded that the Government give details on the number of trips of the helicopters during the visit of VIPs to areas outside the state.
The Panthers Party leader said that the Finance Ministry has been harping on austerity measures. It had imposed restrictions on the purchase of new furniture and furnishings and on use of petrol but on the other hand there was no restriction on the use or misuse of helicopters by the Chief Minister, ministers and senior bureaucrats. This speaks volumes about violation of the austerity measures. "I would ask the Government whether anybody has been punished for violating the austerity measures?" He said that during the discussion on his question it would be clear whether the Government was serious on ensuring strict enforcement of its rules and guidelines.
Harsh Dev said that there must be another side of the story. It appears that the concerned authorities in the Government are afraid of telling the Chief Minister, his ministerial colleagues and senior bureaucrats to observe austerity measures. He said that one hand the Government has been complaining of financial stringency while people demand construction of one project or the other but on the other side senior bureaucrats and ministers are allowed to have full liberty in sucking weak frame of the state exchequer.
He explained that he would be too pleased to see even junior officers and other functionaries moving from one place to the other by helicopters in connection with their official work once the state had sufficient financial resources for carrying out various development projects. He said that it is irony of fate that even after 50 years place like Jammu and Kashmir, rich in rivers and lakes, still being bogged by acute electricity shortage. He said that the successive state Governments have been harping on the state's potential of generating 20,000 MWs of power but till date the total power generation has not crossed 2,000 MWs. A state that has to depend on the central assistance for meeting the wage bill of its employees cannot afford the luxury of misusing money on helicopter trips
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