Though ₹3 crore had been released by the Centre, the balance of ₹3.33 crore is yet to be released despite exchange of communication between the State Forest Department and the MoEF.
Perusal of letters between the MoEF and NTCA indicates that the cost of the event was originally pegged at ₹3 crore, but as per the instructions given by NTCA officials and the requirements of the Prime Minister’s programme, a few additional activities were included and hence the event management company to which the programme was outsourced, submitted a revised quotation and the same was circulated to all officials during a videoconference.
State asked to pay
The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) of Karnataka wrote to Deputy Inspector-General, NTCA, New Delhi, on September 29, 2023 reminding him of the dues. But the NTCA wrote back on February 12, 2024 that expenses pertaining to the stay of Prime Minister entourage at Radisson Blu Plaza in Mysuru, should be reimbursed by the State government.
Subsequently, another letter dated March 22, 2024, was written by the present PCCF Subhash K. Malkhede reminding the NTCA of the dues, including non-clearance of hotel bills of the Prime Minister’s stay at Radisson Blu Plaza amounting to ₹ 80.6 lakh but there has been no reply so far.
In the meantime, the general manager, Finance, of Radisson Blu Plaza wrote to the Deputy Conservator of Forests Basavaraju on May 21, 2024,, reminding him of the non-payment of bills “even 12 months after the utilisation of our hotel services”.
Additional sum for delay
The letter said despite consistent follow-up and reminders, these bills remain unpaid. It goes on to say that a delayed payment interest of 18% per annum would be applicable to the outstanding dues and this additional sum of ₹12.09 lakh (for the delayed payment) should be included when the payment was being affected.
The hotel management has threatened legal action in the event of non-settlement of dues by June 1, 2024.
When contacted, Dr. Basavaraju said that the State government had rebuffed Centre’s directives to reimburse the amount on the grounds that it was a Central government programme.
R krishna kumar The Hindu