Scam-tainted OC tells ‘ its official to clear bill

NEW DELHI: After the burgeoning of the Commonwealth Games 2010 budget, it seems the organizing committee ( OC) doesn’t want to take any chances . It has asked one of its officials to pay the arrears of a pending bill on his own.

The OC is in a wrangle with its officials over payment of arrears to the tune of Rs 2.39 lakh to Premier Brands, the company that was in charge of Delhi Games merchandising. Incidentally , a criminal complaint was filed against Premier Brands Limited (PBL) by the OC on non-payment of dues some months ago. The company, which was to pay the OC Rs 1 crore as part of the deal for merchandising, had sent a cheque for the same which bounced.

The payment to PBL has resulted in serious differences between OC officials with the CEO, Jarnail Singh, ordering the official responsible for placing the order (resulting in the arrears) to pay the company on his own.

The CEO’s order, a copy of which is with TOI, directs the official , Manish Kumar, who was the head of press operations at that time, to pay the bill of Rs 2.39 lakh from his personal account . “After detailed examination of the reply (Kumar’s )... it is found that he had purchased mugs and badges at a cost of Rs 2,39,800 from M/s Premier Brand, Gurgaon without following the financial procedures and obtaining administrative/financial approval of the competent authority. It has therefore been decided that the said amount...shall be recovered from Shri Manish Kumar, DDG,” says the order dated January 5, 2011.

Sources say that the letter is an attempt by the OC to finally make officials accountable for the various payments that have been made during the Games. Ironically, the directions come even as investigating agencies like CBI are mulling including senior government officials in the cases of huge over-billing and carterlisation that has marked the dealings of the brass of the OC like chairperson Suresh Kalmadi and secretary-general Lalit Bhanot.

However, the letter, though late in the day, is expected to ensure that dealings of the OC are finally made accountable. Said a senior OC official, “Though the amount is not large, the very fact that an official is being held responsible for not following rules and for attempting to pass off unaccounted expenses is an example to others.”
With the investigating agencies targeting the large deals, it looks like the OC is attempting to set an example for those left outside the CBI ambit.