MoEF’s Toyota Fortuner goes back where it should have been

It is now learnt that on December 21, Sky Packers & Movers, New Delhi, was selected on the basis of a spot quotation for a Rs 44,000-contract to transfer the Fortuner (DL 3C CC 8068) to Bhubaneswar.

Javadekar used it in Delhi

A Toyota Fortuner, being used in New Delhi by Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar though it had been bought by SAIL for field inspection in Odisha by staff of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, was returned to Bhubaneswar within days of The Indian Express seeking comments from the minister last December.

The Indian Express had contacted Javadekar for comments on December 17, 2015. He sought time but neither he nor any official of his ministry replied and the report was published December 22.

It is now learnt that on December 21, Sky Packers & Movers, New Delhi, was selected on the basis of a spot quotation for a Rs 44,000-contract to transfer the Fortuner (DL 3C CC 8068) to Bhubaneswar.

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The ministry did not share the file notings on the matter sought through an RTI application — it was filed on February 11 this year — but said the vehicle was “shifted out of Delhi with the approval of the competent authority”. A copy of the financial statement of the contract, obtained under RTI, stated that “spot quotations were invited after obtaining of (sic) approval of SO (GA)”. The SO (GA) refers to a section officer in the general administration division.

Neither Javadekar nor Environment Secretary Ashok Lavasa responded to emails sent Monday by The Indian Express.

In February 2015, the ministry, while granting forest clearance to SAIL’s Barsua iron mines in Odisha, asked the public sector undertaking for a vehicle that the ministry’s Bhubaneswar staff could use for field inspections.

Official records show that within four months, SAIL bought a Rs 20-lakh Toyota Fortuner for the ministry. But this SUV was not sent to the field office. It was delivered in New Delhi where it was being used by Javadekar.

Jay Mazoomdaar

Jay Mazoomdaar is an investigative reporter focused on offshore finance, equitable growth, natural resources management and biodiversity conservation. Over two decades, his work has been recognised by the International Press Institute, the Ramnath Goenka Foundation, the Commonwealth Press Union, the Prem Bhatia Memorial Trust, the Asian College of Journalism etc. Mazoomdaar’s major investigations include the extirpation of tigers in Sariska, global offshore probes such as Panama Papers, Robert Vadra’s land deals in Rajasthan, India’s dubious forest cover data, Vyapam deaths in Madhya Pradesh, mega projects flouting clearance conditions, Nitin Gadkari’s link to e-rickshaws, India shifting stand on ivory ban to fly in African cheetahs, the loss of indigenous cow breeds, the hydel rush in Arunachal Pradesh, land mafias inside Corbett, the JDY financial inclusion scheme, an iron ore heist in Odisha, highways expansion through the Kanha-Pench landscape etc. ... Read More

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