I-T department seeks appointment details of over 2,000 people

In what could spell fresh trouble for Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (OC), the Income Tax department has sought details of appointment of over 2,000 people amid allegations that many were "ghost employees".



In a letter to the OC, the department has asked it to furnish details of muster rolls, documents pertinent to selection of workforce, salary and Tax Deduction at Source details among others by the end of this month.
The IT move came after complaints surfaced alleging that large amounts of money had been siphoned off as salary expenditure against the names of people who existed only on the rolls.

About 2,100 people were shown as having worked between May 2009 and November 2010 in different capacities and total salary drawn by them ran into several crores. "We have asked for details of employment in OC to cross check whether all the employees have taken their salaries and paid taxes. We will also check whether the muster rolls and other records were manipulated," an IT official said.

Sources said the Central Vigilance Commission had received complaints of "fraudulent" recruitment process undertaken by the Organising Committee.u00a0 They said that CVC had also asked the Chief Vigilance Officer of the Sports Ministry to probe the alleged irregularities in the whole employment process.

The OC has at present about 250 employees who are being relieved in a phased manner, sources said. The anti-corruption watchdog is also inquiring into over 30 complaints related to alleged corruption in Games works carried out by different civic and construction agencies.

It includes overlays works, workforce selection, hiring of equipment and public relation related projects executed by OC.

The initial total budget estimated by the Indian Olympic Association in 2003 for hosting the Games was Rs 1,620 crore . In 2010, however, the official total budget escalated to an estimated Rs 11,500 crore,u00a0u00a0 a figure which excluded non-sports-related infrastructure development. Just the cost of construction of five Games venues by Central Public Works Department had escalated by over Rs 1,110 crore than the original sanctioned amount.
The CPWD had renovated Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Complex, Indira Gandhi Stadium Complex, Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Swimming Pool Complex, Major Dhyanchand National Stadium and Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range.
Besides, over Rs 20 crore were spent on installing closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras in three other stadiums. The 2010 Commonwealth Games are reportedly the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever.