Bhubaneswar: Former Governor of Odisha Ganeshi Lal had issued 319 grants from his discretionary funds totalling more than Rs 6 crore to Haryana-based recipients between FY 2018-19 and FY 2023-24, according to an RTI response received from the Governor’s office.
Notably, Lal- who hails from Harayana’s Sirsa district – served as the Governor of Odisha from March 1, 2018 to October 18, 2023. He allocated as many as 319 grants – which totals nearly Rs 6,50,93,000 — to Haryana-based recipients citing various reasons, the response to the RTI filed by Odia daily Dharitri revealed.
As per the list of his grants, many people from other states, apart from Haryana, were accorded a total amount of Rs 1,11,46,000 in the form of financial and various work-related assistance.
In FY 2022-23, a total of Rs 35,22,369 was allotted to Eastern Media Limited to conduct a debate competition under ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ programme. In the first phase, the former Governor granted Rs 30 lakh to the firm, while Rs 5,22,369 was given for the same programme again in the same financial year.
The data from the RTI response suggested that many people from Haryana had received funds from Lal citing illness of their mothers, fathers or relatives. Later, those particular individuals took lakhs of rupees from the Governor’s fund in the name of ‘financial assistance’ and sometimes for setting up ‘water tanks’.
For instance, Lal had given assistance several times to Mandeep Singh from Bhatia Dharamshala in Haryana’s Sirsa district. In FY 2021-22, Mandeep was given a grant of Rs 1.5 lakh for installing a cold water supply machine at Shyam Park located near Anaj Mandi at Janta Bhawan Road. Later, Mandeep took another grant from Lal to treat his allegedly ailing mother. Subsequently, the former Governor provided an amount of Rs 14,05,000 over a period of time to install eight water tanks.
Another such instance can be noted in case of Dinesh Kumar – a resident of Sirsa’s Dhingtania village. Dinesh was provided with a grant of Rs 1.5 lakh to install a water tank in FY 2021-22. Later, in FY2022-23, Rs 50,000 was provided for ‘financial assistance’, followed by Rs 6.2 lakh for installing water tanks at four different places. In FY2023-24, Dinesh was granted another Rs 25,000 as ‘financial assistance’.
It’s not just Mandeep or Dinesh, many people from Haryana have benefited from Lal’s assistance worth lakhs of rupees, the RTI response revealed.
“Ganeshi Lal returned to Haryana after providing huge financial assistance to many individuals and institutions that were personally close to him when he was the Governor,” a senior Raj Bhavan official said on the condition of anonymity.
It can be mentioned here that these funds are given by the state government which is the money of taxpayers of Odisha. However, the usage of discretionary funds by the Governor is not audited by the state government.
PNN