Thaindian News

Bhubaneswar, Sep 5 (IANS) The hiring of choppers for Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and other ministers a number of times during the past six years was done in violation of rules and resulted in wastage of taxpayers’ money, anti-corruption group Transparency International alleged Monday.

The state spent more than Rs.12 crore between 2005 and 2011 in hiring helicopters or chartered flights for its ministers and the chief minister, Biswajit Mohanty, a board member of the India unit of the group, told IANS.

Citing information he obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) act, Mohanty said during the period, a total of 320 trips were made by hired helicopters and chartered aircraft by the chief minister and other ministers with a total expenditure of about Rs.12.02 crore.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik alone made a total 163 trips (more than half of the total trips made during the period) with nearly Rs.6.74 crore as the total expenditure, he said.

Under the Orissa Ministers Travelling Allowance Rules, 1954, an aircraft or helicopter can be hired only in emergencies.

However, many places for which helicopters were hired are within 150 km of the state capital, a mere two-hour journey by car, he said.

Only three trips by hired helicopters are justifiable, since they were undertaken to carry out aerial survey of flood hit zones, Mohanty said. Three flights to survey floods between 2008-2011 has cost the state Rs.4.5 lakh, he said.

The chief minister also hired a private chartered aircraft to visit Delhi for two days in 2010, which cost the state exchequer Rs.12.02 lakh.

“Everyday, there are four commercial flights to Delhi from Bhubaneswar airport. Had he gone by a commercial flight, the cost would have been less than Rs.15,000 for a two-way ticket,” Mohanty said.

A senior official of the state general administration department declined to comment on the issue.