Several Union ministers yet to clear dues on official bungalows: RTI
New Delhi: Several Union ministers, including Vijay Goel, Prakash Javadekar, Nirmala Sitharaman and Sushma Swaraj, have not cleared dues on their official bungalows till February, the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said.
Replying to an RTI query, the ministry said Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region Jitendra Singh also have outstanding payments on their bungalows.
These dues concern furniture and other things provided at the bungalows, an official of the ministry said. The amounts for Naqvi and Singh are around Rs 1.46 lakh and Rs 3.18 lakh respectively for the same period, according to the ministry.
The reply, dated April 26, came on an RTI application filed by Ajit Kumar Singh .
The Directorate of Estates, which comes under the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, allots bungalows to Union ministers and MPs in the national capital.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman had pending dues of Rs 53, 276 while dues of Rs 86,923 was not cleared by Javadekar till February.
Goel, who is minister of state for parliamentary affairs, also did not clear dues running into nearly Rs 3 lakh while Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Singh had dues of Rs 2,88,269 till February, it stated.
Responding to the RTI query , the directorate said External Affairs Minister Swaraj had pending dues of Rs 98,890 on her official bungalow till the same period.
The Directorate of Estates issues a 'No Demand Certificate (NDC)' to those ministers and MPs who have cleared their dues.
According to the RTI reply, there was only Rs 14,627 dues pending on Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot after he paid Rs 1,23,215 out of Rs 1,37,842 accessed from August 2014 to February 2019.
There are also several Union ministers who have cleared their dues.
Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Giriraj Singh, Babul Supriyo, Harsh Vardhan, Manoj Sinha, Narendra Singh Tomar, Mahesh Sharma, Jayant Sinha, Ravi Shanker Prasad, Uma Bharti and Smirti Irani are among the Union ministers who have cleared their dues.
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Tumkur: 24-year-old rider killed in car-bike head-on collision in Tiptur
Tiptur: A 24-year-old rider was killed on the spot in a head-on collision between his motorbike and a car near Bidiregudi of Kasaba hobli in the taluk.
The deceased rider, Vijay Kumar, was a resident of BL Koppalu Basaveshwara Nagara in Kasaba hobli, Arsikere taluk.
He was reportedly returning home after work at a welding factory near TM Manjunath Nagar Gate, Tiptur, when a car coming from the opposite direction collided with his bike near Bidiregudi. Vijay Kumar is said to have died at the spot due to the impact of the collision.
Locals have blamed the lack of signboards and other precautionary measures amid the construction of a four-lane national highway in the area, mainly between Bidiregudi and Konehalli. They have said that the carelessness of the National Highway Authorities of India (NHAI) has led to frequent accidents in the region.
“A meeting of officers from various government departments, including the police, was held recently under the chairmanship of the local legislator, but several NHAI officials were reportedly absent. Despite the meeting, officials appear careless in implementing safety measures, leading to a rise in accidents,” the locals said, demanding immediate action from the concerned authorities.
