Uttarakhand CM suspends senior Home Guards Officer over alleged uniform procurement irregularities
Dehradun: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday ordered the immediate suspension of Deputy Inspector General and Deputy Commandant General (DCG) Home Guards Amitabh Srivastava over alleged financial irregularities in the procurement of uniforms in the Home Guards and Civil Defence department.
The chief minister also directed the constitution of a joint inquiry committee to investigate the matter, which pertains to the 2024-25 financial year, as reported by Hindustan Times. Officials said uniforms worth around ₹1 crore were allegedly procured at an inflated cost of nearly ₹3 crore, causing a substantial loss to the state exchequer.
The irregularities came to light after Director General of Home Guards PVK Prasad noticed that a fresh tender for 2025-26 had been floated at the same inflated rates. The DG cancelled the tender and ordered a departmental inquiry, which found that Srivastava had allegedly colluded with a contractor to manipulate the tender process and procure uniforms at nearly three times the market price.
Based on the inquiry findings, the DG recommended strict action, including registration of a criminal case and recovery of ₹2 crore. He said the report was forwarded to the state government for further action after the inquiry established a financial loss of around ₹2 crore.
Officials said the tender process was allegedly structured to favour a particular contractor and was halted once the discrepancies were detected. Following the inquiry, the department stopped further procurement of uniforms through the tender route and is considering providing a uniform allowance directly to Home Guard personnel to purchase their own uniforms.
A senior government official said the suspension was ordered on the DG’s recommendation, along with the formation of a joint inquiry committee to conduct a detailed probe into the matter.
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French President Macron concludes Mumbai visit
Mumbai (PTI): French President Emmanuel Macron, along with First Lady Brigitte Macron, left Mumbai for New Delhi on Wednesday after concluding his engagements here, including bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
They were seen off at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport by Maharashtra Governor Acharya Devvrat, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde.
On Tuesday, Macron held discussions with Modi as part of efforts to further strengthen India-France strategic ties.
During the Mumbai visit, the French president and his wife also met some of India's top filmmakers and actors, and had an animated exchange with them about cinema, culture and collaboration.
President Macron is on an official visit to India from February 17 to 19 at the invitation of PM Modi to participate in the AI Impact Summit hosted by India in the national capital Delhi, besides the bilateral summit in Mumbai.
PM Modi will inaugurate the summit on February 19. As many as 20 heads of states, including French President Macron, will be present at the inaugural session, Electronics and IT Secretary S Krishnan said.
