VVIP guests were hosted in 5-star hotels from the canal repair budget, and return gifts worth ₹1.25 lakh were also given.
This is a story of the open loot of public funds, where garlands worth ₹11,000 were purchased for welcoming, a plate of tea and biscuits cost ₹2,500, and a single dinner plate was priced at ₹21,000.
All this was done with money that was meant for repairing canals to ensure water reaches farmers' fields. But officials spent this money on liquor parties for guests and bookings in 5-star hotels.
A 59-member delegation from the Ravi-Vyas Water Tribunal (RBWT) was on a four-day tour of Rajasthan from March 5 to March 8.
The purpose of this delegation was to interact with farmers and to verify whether the Indira Gandhi Canal Project was receiving its full share of water from the Ravi-Vyas rivers as per the agreement.
These members had the status of 'State Guests' and, according to rules, could have been accommodated in government guest houses or circuit houses, where the rent is merely ₹500 to ₹1500.
But the department, under the guise of VVIP protocol, chose the most expensive 5-star hotels in Bikaner and Jaisalmer, where the rent for a single room was as high as ₹59,000.
No expense was spared in welcoming the guests. Upon their arrival in Bikaner, ₹11,000 per person was spent on garlands and bouquets.
This welcome ceremony happened twice, once in Bikaner and again in Jaisalmer. Over ₹24 lakh was spent on just the welcome at both places.
The tour began in Bikaner, and so did the game of extravagance. The number of guests was only 59, but the expense bills showed this number in the hundreds.
Officially, the number of guests was stated as 59, but 80 rooms were booked in a five-star hotel in Bikaner.
A bill of ₹5.20 lakh was generated for these room bookings. The question is, if there were 59 guests, for whom were the 80 rooms booked?
Additionally, expensive hotels like Narendra Bhawan, Chandra Bhawan, Basant Vihar, and Sagar Niwas were also chosen for their stay.
The biggest fraud in the expense documents appears in the bills for tea and snacks. At RD 507 in Chhatargarh, arrangements for tea and snacks were shown for 600 people.
A bill was made at the rate of ₹2,500 per person, totaling ₹15 lakh. This is astonishing because the total number of guests was 59.
Many hotels offer complimentary breakfast with room bookings, but the department organized a separate breakfast for 83 people on the morning of March 6, spending ₹3,000 per person. The bill for this amounted to ₹2.49 lakh.
Exorbitant amounts were also spent on the guests' meals. At one location, lunch was arranged for 350 people, with each plate costing ₹8,000. The total bill for this was ₹28 lakh.
Similarly, a dinner was organized for 300 people, where the plate rate was ₹8,000. This cost ₹24 lakh.
The department broke all records in hospitality. On March 5, heritage rooms were booked for 3 guests in a five-star hotel, with each room costing ₹56,640.
Just these three rooms cost ₹1,69,920. In another hotel, Indian suites were booked for 3 guests, with the rent shown as ₹44,840 per room, whereas the rent on the hotel's website was ₹26,000.
After Bikaner, when the delegation reached Jaisalmer, the spending meter showed no signs of stopping. Here too, lakhs and crores were spent like water on everything from welcomes to dinners.
Upon arrival in Jaisalmer, a welcome was arranged for 120 guests. Here again, ₹11,000 per person was spent on garlands and bouquets, with the total bill coming to ₹13.2 lakh.
In a five-star hotel in Jaisalmer, 27 'A' category suite rooms were booked at a rate of ₹35,400 per room. This cost ₹9.55 lakh.
In addition, 66 'B' category deluxe rooms were also booked at a rate of ₹21,240 per room. The bill for this exceeded ₹14 lakh.
In another hotel, rooms were booked for 112 guests, with a payment of ₹18,880 per room. The total bill for this was ₹21.14 lakh.
Special arrangements for dinner and sightseeing were made for the guests in the Sam sand dunes of Jaisalmer. Here, ₹21,240 per person was spent for 150 guests.
The total bill for this royal dinner came to ₹31.86 lakh. This was one of the most expensive dinner plates.
Furthermore, a dinner was hosted at Hotel Marriott for 150 guests at a rate of ₹8,260 per plate, costing ₹12.39 lakh.
The most shocking expenditure figure in this entire tour is that of the return gifts. Upon their departure, team members and other guests were given mementos.
A total of 105 guests were given these gifts, and the cost of each gift is stated to be ₹1.25 lakh. A total of ₹1.32 crore was spent on this.
This amount is approximately 25% of the total expenditure. The question arises as to what kind of memento costs one and a quarter lakh rupees.
The most serious aspect is that all this money was spent from the budget meant for farmers. Officials diverted the funds allocated for canal repairs for hospitality.
In a letter to the Secretary of the Indira Gandhi Canal Board, Chief Engineer Vivek Goyal stated that due to the slow progress of proposed works in the canals, it is not possible to fully utilize the budget amount of ₹34 crore received under this head. Therefore, a re-appropriation of ₹509.79 lakh from this budget should be made.
This letter is direct evidence that officials deliberately slowed down the canal repair work so that the budget could be spent on other activities.
A clear pattern emerges from all this spending - inflating the number of guests. There were only 59 guests, but the bills showed numbers like 101, 120, 150, 300, 350, and even 600.
Fraud was also committed in the name of making identity cards. ID cards were made for 350 people, and a bill of ₹1,000 per card was charged, costing ₹3.5 lakh.
This entire case is a major example of misuse of public funds and corruption. The very department responsible for delivering water to farmers is squandering their rightful money on VVIP guests.
A high-level investigation is needed in this matter to bring out the truth and punish the guilty.
On one hand, the farmers of Rajasthan are struggling with water scarcity, their crops are drying up, and on the other hand, the money for repairing their canals is being spent on official hospitality. This is not just a financial irregularity but also a cruel joke on the farmers. With ₹5 crore, many kilometers of canals could have been repaired, benefiting thousands of farmers.
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