New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs has already spent over Rs 18 crore on a SAARC Museum on Textiles and Handicrafts, but the project is stuck as the public sector company supposed to operate it has been facing the executioner’s axe for last few years.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s report on compliance audit observations, tabled during the monsoon session of parliament, states that the SAARC museum has yet take off even after a lapse of 10 years and despite incurring an expenditure of Rs 18.47 crore.
At the 2007 SAARC summit in Dhaka, then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced that India will set up a “SAARC Museum of Textiles and Handicrafts” to showcase the rich tradition in this field in the region.
In line with SAARC regional centres, India was to pay for the construction costs, with the recurring operational expenditure to be shared among the member states. For India, the total price of the project was to be Rs 25.18 crore, including the operational costs.
Within a year, the permanent venue of the museum at Dilli Haat, Pitampura was selected. “The premises for the Museum were leased (November 2009) for 14 years from Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC) by the MEA and MEA paid upfront rent of Rs 15.59 crore for two exhibition halls in January 2010,” said the CAG report.
After getting approval for layout plans from member states and government authorities, MEA selected Handicrafts and Handlooms Export Corporation of India Limited, a public sector company under Union ministry of textiles, to set up and develop the museum, along with its management and maintenance.
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The total contract was for Rs 4.85 crore, and the MEA had released Rs 4.59 crore to HHEC till September 2019, as per the CAG report. According to the timeline of the project, the museum was to be opened in March 2015 – but it is nowhere ready.
As per the central auditing agency, the MEA informed them in December 2019 that the civil and electrical works were complete, but the interior works were yet to begin.
“…the tendering process for the (interior) works has been put on hold as HHEC informed that they are not in a position to take the responsibility of management and future operations of the Museum after completion of the interior works as the administrative Ministry i.e. Ministry of Textiles is contemplating closure of the PSU,” stated the CAG report.
It is not clear as to why alternative arrangements had not been made since then, as the shutting down of HHEC had been on the cards for several years. In the 2017-18 annual report of HHEC, the chairman wrote that “Ministry of Textiles is contemplating closure of HHEC and administrative Ministry has recommended for closure of HHEC as per DPE guidelines for closure of sick & loss making CPSEs”.
With no “clear road map for the future of the Museum, it was thought not prudent to go ahead with the interior works”, the CAG report stated. As per the report, the last development was that textiles ministry had invited MEA for a “full-fledged” discussion on the matter.
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“Thus, deficient systemic approach in monitoring of the project by MEA resulted in non-completion of the project of establishment of SAARC Museum which was envisaged as a vibrant centre reflecting the living tradition of the SAARC and to provide a catalyst approach to the SAARC preferential trading agreement process despite incurring an expenditure of Rs 18.47 crore and a delay of over 10 years,” said the CAG report.
Other instances related to MEA
Besides, the CAG report also listed four other instances in which irregular implementation of rules by MEA led to loss to the exchequer.
From 2012 to 2018, the High Commission of India in New Zealand adopted an incorrect exchange rate for renunciation charges of Indian citizenship and penalty on misuse of passports. Due to the incorrect exchange rate, the revenue loss was calculated at Rs 4.44 crore.
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Further, CAG noted that the foreign ministry sustained an unnecessary expenditure of Rs 4.11 crore, as 13 regional passport offices could not avail of discount to bulk customers of speed post as they couldn’t provide the address data electronically. The RPO in Lucknow did not even enter into an agreement with Postal Authority to avail of the discount.
The audit report also said that the MEA-administered Nalanda University had adopted incorrect overhead rates and cess in awarding a contract for construction of internal roads and earth works to provide water bodies for its permanent campus in Rajgir. “…against the inflated additional liability of Rs 2.34 crore, the University has already released Rs 1.85 crore to the contractor up to the 10th RA Bill”.
While the matter about Nalanda University had been referred to MEA in July 2018, there was still no reply till December 2019, the report said.