Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: In yet another embarrassment to the UPA government, the Comptroller and Accountant General of India (CAG) has blamed the Congress government in Delhi for irregularities related to the Commonwealth Games (CWG) held last year.
Reports, Wednesday, claimed that the CAG has slammed Chief Minister Sheila Dixit’s government for serious lapses and irregularities in the bidding process for procurement of different Games-related items and pointed out several instances of wasteful expenditure.
The CAG’s indictment of Delhi Chief Minister comes a day after it blamed the PMO for giving a long rope to IOA chief and CWG Organising Committee (OC) chief Suresh Kalmadi in spending crores of taxpayer’s money in the names of preparations for the sporting event.
The CAG has blamed the PMO for appointing Kalmadi as Organising Committee chairman of the CWG held in October.
The explosive CAG report, which is yet to be tabled in Parliament, is believed to have identified how Spage Age - one of the disqualified firms bidding for street lighting – was later declared qualified "irregularly" after the firm appealed to the Chief Minister.
The CAG also observed several instances of wasteful expenditure by the Delhi government and civic agencies amounting to the tune of over Rs 100 crores over streets-capping and an excess expenditure of Rs 31.07 crore on street lighting by MCD, NDMC and PWD.
The CAG report blames the Delhi government for the manner in which it went about its project for "Modernization of Delhi Street Lighting System", since the decision on use of imported lighting was taken with the express consent of the Chief Minister.
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister has refused to comment on the CAG report and stated that she would talk on it only after it is tabled in Parliament and its contents are made public.
The contents of the CAG report, which was leaked to the media, has triggered an angry reaction from the ruling side, which has sought to shift the blame on previous NDA regime for appointing Kalmadi and the entire CWG mess.
Minister of state in the PMO V Narayanasamy said the CAG report, after being tabled in Parliament, will be examined by the public accounts committee.
First Published: Wednesday, August 03, 2011, 09:36