Tiles stolen from helipad for PM’s visit: 4 Gurugram officials face charge sheet

The tiles were stolen following the Prime Minister’s visit to Gurugram on November 1, 2016. The Haryana government has ordered charge sheets against MCG officials

The Haryana government has ordered charge sheets to be filed against four Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) officials over the theft of 209,000 tiles worth ₹15 lakh, which were used to build a helipad for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s helicopter for his visit to the city seven years ago, officials aware of the matter said on Saturday.

MCG has been ordered to send the charge sheets against the executive engineers to the urban local bodies repartment within 15 days, and those against the junior engineers within a month. (Representational image)

The state government’s urban local bodies department took cognizance of the theft and on January 30 ordered charge sheets to be filed against an executive engineer, a retired executive engineer, a junior engineer, and an assistant engineer of MCG, they added.

On November 1, 2016, Modi came to Gurugram as the chief guest at an event to mark the golden jubilee of the formation of Haryana, held at Tau Devi Lal stadium. A helipad was built for his use at Leisure Valley Ground using 288,000 tiles at a cost of ₹21.61 lakh, with each tile costing around ₹7.50.

After their initial purpose was served, the tiles were meant to be in MCG’s possession. But a couple of months after the Prime Minister’s visit, in the second week of January 2017, the MCG commissioner visited the site and discovered that the tiles were missing, according to officials familiar with the matter.

The MCG commissioner ordered an inquiry, which found that 79,000 of the 288,000 tiles were used by MCG officials in an “unauthorised” manner at a street in Carterpuri, while the remaining 209,000 tiles had vanished without a trace. The officials who used the 79,000 tiles at the Carterpuri street were also unaware of where the remaining tiles were, officials said.

“After due examination, the government has decided to take disciplinary action against the then executive engineer (now retired) under the provisions of Rule-12 (2)(b) of the Haryana Municipal Services (Pensiuni Rules, 2016 mad with Rule-7 of the Haryana Civil Services (Punishment & Appeal) Rules, 2016. Further, the government has also decided to take disciplinary action under Rule-7 of Haryana Civil Services (Punishment & Appeal) Rules, 2016 against the then junior engineer (now assistant engineer), Municipal Corporation, Gurugram, as both engineers have been found prima facie responsible for the missing/theft of paver blocks at Leisure Valley Park,” said the government’s letter to the MCG commissioner.

MCG has been ordered to send the charge sheets against the executive engineers to the urban local bodies repartment within 15 days, and those against the junior engineers within a month.

“It is made clear that any type of delay in not sending the draft of the charge sheet within the bound period will be viewed seriously and the concerned officer/official will be held responsible personally,” said the order.

The department has also directed disciplinary action against the two junior engineers responsible for the helipad project in 2016. The department has asked MCG to submit an action taken report within a month, officials said.

Narhari Singh Banger, MCG commissioner, said they have received a letter from the secretary of the urban local bodies department regarding the theft of tiles. “Aside from the charge sheets against the concerned officers, an action taken report will be sent to the department soon,” he said.