Private deal — Officials sought parking fee for Bill’s plane

JAIPUR, OCTOBER 1: Rajasthan had a lot of surprises in store for Bill Clinton when the US President visited the state in March. Empowered ...

JAIPUR, OCTOBER 1: Rajasthan had a lot of surprises in store for Bill Clinton when the US President visited the state in March. Empowered women, computers in rural administration — Clinton never really stopped talking about them.

There was in fact another Indian surprise for him which Clinton would not have come to know. Two state Government employees allegedly demanded “rent” for allowing his aircraft to be parked in the hangar of the Rajasthan Flying Club and nearly succeeded in it. None of their bosses knew about this “private deal”.

Jaipur Collector Srimat Pandey has conducted a detailed inquiry into the incident and sent his report to the General Administration Department (GAD), under which the flying club comes. But no action has yet been taken against the two officials who the collector held responsible for the incident.

Secretary, GAD, A.K. Pandey, said he had called for the file but added that the two flying club employees named in the report, flying instructor Mahendra Kumar and technician S.S. Rao, had met him. Kumar told Pandey that his name was erroneously included as he was not involved at any stage. His version, Pandey said, was corroborated by Rao. Pandey said only Rao’s name figured initially and an explanation was called from him. Rao had his own version of the affair to offer, said Pandey, but “I will have to see the report before I accept or reject his explanation.”

The Flying Club hangar is used only by the state planes and is never rented out. The servicing and maintenance of the aircraft are done within the hangar. Adjacent to it is the NCC (Air Wing) hangar where the gliders and trainer aircraft are kept. The administration had got the NCC hangar vacated for the escort aircraft for the US President. After the four accompanying helicopters were parked in the hangar, there was not enough space left for the President’s special plane. US officials started looking for an alternative place.

The Flying Club officials seized the opportunity to offer the Flying Club’s hangar, the inquiry report says. They allegedly asked for $5,000 as rent but scaled down the demand to $500. They insisted that the amount be paid in Indian currency, the report adds. The US officials said they did not have that much Indian currency and promised to hand over the money the following day. The special plane was allowed to park in the hangar and the US security officials took charge of the hangar.

Later in the evening, when Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot returned to Jaipur from Delhi, there was no place for his aircraft. This caused a stir among the officers who had gone to receive the CM. The US President’s plane was parked in the state plane’s hangar and US officials refused to allow the CM’s plane into the hangar which, they pointed out, they had “hired on rent.” The state government or the GAD knew nothing about this arrangement. They, however, managed to persuade the US officials to make way for the state plane.

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Then started an exercise to find out how all this happened. Sensing trouble, Rao did not turn up to take the “rent” the next day. Jaipur Collector Srimat Pandey spoke to the US officials who told him about the “rent demand.” They said they had informed their officers in US about this and had asked them to arrange for the money. The collector prepared the report after a detailed inquiry with the assistance of US officials.