This is just the tip of the iceberg. The central district election officials had spent a whopping Rs88.88 lakh during Assembly elections in 2013 and Rs92 lakh during the lok Sabha polls in May this year in the national Capital. This inconceivable amount was incurred on picking up the tab for tea, snacks and food for officials during the last polls of Delhi Assembly and lok Sabha.
On an average, Central district officials have spent Rs2.2 lakh per day during 40 days (from announcement of election date to till announcement of results). Oddly, West district, which is much bigger than Central, reportedly spent only Rs13 lakh while North-West district, which is much larger, has spent only Rs1.19 crore during the same period. If that was not enough, the nine revenue districts of the Capital have spent over Rs70 crore in conducting elections in the national Capital during Assembly polls in 2013.
The bills were cleared by the Delhi Government despite the Finance Department expressing serious reservations as the bills submitted for remittance were found to be exaggerated. The total budget of all districts was earmarked at Rs53.60 crore in 2013.
The Finance Department had refused to clear the bills twice. Strangely, Central district electoral office had spent Rs88.88 lakh in 2013 and Rs92 lakh in 2014 on election-related meetings that included tea and snacks. It is learnt that 40-50 people used to attend a meeting depending on the issue being debated.
Officials of Central district said the expenses incurred during the electoral process centre around erecting shamianas at polling stations, furniture costs, setting up helpdesks, providing travel allowances for people on poll duty, a major chunk of it is incurred because of the Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programmes that are conducted in different Assembly constituencies to catch the voters’ attention.
The Central district incurred the maximum expenditure. For example, a district may have provided bills amounting to Rs 10 lakh for a particular expenditure such as shamianas but the same has been shown to cost Rs 50 lakh elsewhere. When expenses exceed the original budget, the Deputy Commissioners put forth a request for a “revised budget”, which is provided by the Finance Department after careful scrutiny of the additional expenses incurred.
“This was a huge discrepancy and we are trying to track down why this is so,” said a senior official of the Finance Department. Insiders say the Central District had failed to satisfy the queries raised by the Finance Department. The West district, which is much bigger compared to the Central, spent only Rs 13 lakh and North-West district spent over Rs 1.19 crore during the same period.
Sources said that the amount of Rs 88.88 lakh and Rs 92 lakh was astronomical and a sheer waste of Government funds despite the district being smaller compared to others. Interestingly, district election officers had earlier submitted to the Finance Department to clear expenses of Rs 4.38 crore. When that amount was questioned, they rectified it and trimmed it to Rs 3.66 crore and again submitted it to the Finance Department for clearance.
The same was approved by the Delhi Government saying that they had little option as it would be impractical to hold back bills. A senior Government official said that district electoral offices and the Revenue Department frame a detailed guideline for such expenditure in future. The deputy electoral officers of each district have the authority to carry out election-related activities in their areas. In addition, each district is provided an original budget for all its sanctioned expenses. Some districts have presented reasonable bills while others have incurred astronomical amounts for the same.