chief
Prime VIP
Lucknow, August 13
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has rapped the Mayawati government over the knuckles for pulling down a sports stadium here to make room for the expansion of the Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthall where statues of Dalit icons have been installed.
The CAG report, tabled before the state Assembly, described as “improper” the decision of the government to demolish the stadium and its adjoining research centre-cum-museum buildings built at a combined cost of Rs 32.98 crore barely six-10 years after they were built.
As per the report, the stadium was built by the state government in 1998 on a 15-acre plot in the city's posh Gomti Nagar at a cost of Rs 6.75 crore. It had a multi-purpose sports hall with wooden flooring, a gymnasium, an Olympic size swimming pool with filtration plant; four synthetic tennis courts and a 200-bedded sports hostel among other facilities.
Four years later in 2002, a research center-cum-museum was raised on an adjoining seven-acre plot at a cost of Rs 26 crore. Its infrastructure included an administrative building and library.
The report has also cast doubt on the recommendation of a technical committee constituted for the demolition. “The process involving constitution of the Technical Committee, obtaining its recommendations by the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) and issue of demolition order by the government was completed in a single day,” observes the CAG report.
The CAG also clearly disapproved of the government's decision to install statues after pulling down the stadium and research centre.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has rapped the Mayawati government over the knuckles for pulling down a sports stadium here to make room for the expansion of the Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthall where statues of Dalit icons have been installed.
The CAG report, tabled before the state Assembly, described as “improper” the decision of the government to demolish the stadium and its adjoining research centre-cum-museum buildings built at a combined cost of Rs 32.98 crore barely six-10 years after they were built.
As per the report, the stadium was built by the state government in 1998 on a 15-acre plot in the city's posh Gomti Nagar at a cost of Rs 6.75 crore. It had a multi-purpose sports hall with wooden flooring, a gymnasium, an Olympic size swimming pool with filtration plant; four synthetic tennis courts and a 200-bedded sports hostel among other facilities.
Four years later in 2002, a research center-cum-museum was raised on an adjoining seven-acre plot at a cost of Rs 26 crore. Its infrastructure included an administrative building and library.
The report has also cast doubt on the recommendation of a technical committee constituted for the demolition. “The process involving constitution of the Technical Committee, obtaining its recommendations by the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) and issue of demolition order by the government was completed in a single day,” observes the CAG report.
The CAG also clearly disapproved of the government's decision to install statues after pulling down the stadium and research centre.
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