Farooq loves golf so his bankrupt govt opens its purse-strings

According to the appointment order (No SKICC/PS/2000/223), Harle has also got a fully-furnished three-bedroom house and a housekeeper (read nanny for his three-year-old daughter) of “his choice.” The nanny’s salary will also be paid by the SKIGC.

Harle will get a car with driver, air-fares for his entire family between Melbourne-Srinagar, both for the beginning and the end of the contract.

Similarly, the visas and the evacuation, if required, would be arranged by golf course authorities. The appointment also gives medical-cover to the family. Harle gets an annual leave of 45 days.

Admitting that SKIGC had appointed Harle, Parvez Diwan, Commissioner Secretary, Tourism, said that the decision was taken by the state government after the death of the last course superintendent.

Diwan said that global tenders seeking a superintendent were floated and the state government received four applications. “It was later shortlisted to two, and the Australian, because of his better resume, was picked up for the job,” he said.

Diwan says that for the Rs 20-crore project which also involves laying of the turf, a “world-class expert” was needed. “It’s not that we handpicked him. We could have got experts from Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, rated as the best and the costliest by international standards but no application was received from these countries,” he said.

Director SKIGC Khursheed Naqib could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Principal Secretary, Finance, Jalil Ahmad Khan, when asked whether the Government, which was having a trying time paying staff salaries was in a position to shell out the money for golf, declined to comment. All he said was, “It is the discretion of the Corporation.”

State Tourism Minister S S Slathia washed his hands of, “The golf course does not come in my domian…It’s directly looked after by the Chief Minister.”

Incidentally, the golf course generated controversy ever since 1983, the year land was earmarked for it. Farooq and former Governor Jagmohan were at logger-heads over its construction. During his rule, Jagmohan converted the earmarked land into city forests and stopped work on it.

Abdullah’s comeback, however, saw resumption of work on an extensive scale in early 1997. Hundreds of rubina plants were felled and the way cleared for the construction of the golf course. In fact, only a few months back, the SKIGC evacuated a snow-leopard from the Chesmashahi enclosure to Padmaja Naidu National Zoological Park in Darjeeling, West Bengal.

The animal later died at the hill station. Sources said the animal was moved to clear the way for the course. In fact, several enclosures were bulldozed at Chesmashahi and the rest of the animals moved as well.