‘Study tour’: Unhappy with MC inquiry, mayor urges adviser for another probe

The corporation’s own inquiry, which was conducted on the mayor’s orders, has claimed that the selection of the travel agency was “done in a transparent manner’’ in the presence of all councillors and that the officers did not know about Sood’s relations with the travel agency’s owners.

In his letter, the mayor said that he, as also the councillors, had no financial powers and it was the sole responsibility of the officers to call quotations or tender to make arrangement for the study tour and check the modalities. But the corporation’s inquiry report did not explain how the selection was done.

He added, “The report mentioned… in the end of the last paragraph that a detailed note was sent to the mayor for approval regarding the selection of the agency. The office of the mayor did not receive any such note for selecting the agency for approval and details of persons going on study tour as well as expenditure incurred on the study tour.’’

Further, the mayor said that, on December 22, he had written to the Municipal Commissioner, asking for the file of the study tour for his perusal, but this was not sent to him, “which shows the doubtful integrity of the concerned officers’’.

“I, therefore, propose that the matter may be got inquired and responsibility fixed against the officers who allotted the contract to the travel agency without following the proper procedure,” he stated.

Kalyan said that all arrangements for the study tour and the selection of the travel agency were dealt with by the office of Rajiv Gupta, Joint Municipal Commissioner.

Incidentally, Gupta, who is a Punjab Civil Service officer on deputation to the municipal corporation, was among the officials who were part of the study tour.

As first reported by Newsline on December 12, the contract of the study tour was given to the travel agency Konasth e-Services Limited, whose owners Sanjeev Sood and Sahil Vaid are brother-in-law and nephew respectively of Arun Sood. No tenders were invited.

Nineteen councillors, including the mayor, and six officials had visited Chennai, Port Blair and Kolkata from August 31 to September 9, ostensibly to study development works. The councillors took along 13 relatives, virtually turning it into a fun trip. The team visited Tirupati, which was not on the itinerary, and spent three days on the Havelock Island.

However, the councillors have neither paid for these fun trips nor the expenses incurred on their relatives. The corporation spent Rs 27.8 lakh on the trip.