Let’s bury ‘study tour’ issue, MC House decides unanimously

Said Chawla, “It has been established that there were procedural lapses, and all mistakes have been made public. Our party never made specific allegations against Arun Sood, but he should admit that he was wrong in not disclosing his relationship with the travel agency. The controversy has spoiled the golden period of the mayor, and I think we should bring closure to the issue, as it has resulted in wastage of crucial hours which could otherwise have been utilised for discussing important issues related to the city.”

He added, “Councillor Satinder Singh has rightly pointed that the guidelines were not followed in this tour. Had I known that such guidelines existed, I would definitely have asked the authorities concerned to follow them. Now, that lapses have been made, we should admit them, and close the issue, as it has been going on for several months. While the tour was being planned, Joint Commissioner Rajiv Gupta called us all to discuss the programme but nobody was told about the relationship of the travel agent with Arun Sood.”

Incidentally, Chawla was among the 19 councillors who had visited Chennai, Port Blair and Koltaka from August 31 to September 9, ostensibly to study development projects. The team included six officials. As many as 13 relatives of councillors were also included, virtually turning it into a fun trip.

They visited places like Tirupati and Havelock Island which were not part of the itinerary, but made no payment for this. Nor did the councillors make full payment for the expenses incurred on their relatives. Among them were councillors of the BJP, the Congress and nominated members. The corporation spent Rs 27.8 lakh on the trip.

Obviously, the burial of the issue suits the BJP because the contract for organising the tour was given to Konasth e-Services Limited, whose owners are relatives of Arun Sood, Leader of Opposition, without inviting tender. Also, Sood took along his wife, two children and a niece.

It suits the Congress, which is the ruling party, because its members and their relatives also went on the tour during which various irregularities took place. Besides, when the Congress attacked Arun Sood, he countered by referring to past such tours in which there were allegations against Congress members.

The closure also suits officials because they were not only part of the tour, but some of them were actually responsible for the irregularities involved in the selection of the travel agency. In fact, Mayor H C Kalyan, in a letter to the Adviser to the Administrator, has specifically named Joint Commissioner Rajiv Gupta, who was also part of the tour party.

During the debate, Sood admitted that he had not disclosed that the travel agency was owned by his relatives. “If I had disclosed my relationship, it would have been favouritism as I could influence the selection. Nobody knew of the relationship, the agency applied and it got the contract on merit. At that time, all councillors present agreed that the agency was quoting the minimum rates. So there was no favouritism,” he said.