New Delhi, March 9 -- Two DANICS officers have been suspended by the Centre due to their involvement in "unproductive expenditure" amounting to the tune of Rs 97 crore on advertisements by the Delhi government, officials said.
They said Shamim Akhtar and Manoj Dwivedi previously worked as the director of the Directorate of Information and Publicity (DIP), Delhi government. A complaint in the matter was lodged by former Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken with the L-G office in 2016 for the recovery of alleged "unproductive expenditure" on advertisements of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)government in Delhi.
On March 29, 2017, the matter was placed before the then Delhi LG who directed to recover the payments already released and freeze fresh payments. He also ordered an inquiry and fixing of responsibility. The DIP secretary issued a notice to AAP on March 30, 2017 for reimbursement of Rs 97 crore incurred on specific advertisements. The AAP challenged the notice before the Delhi High Court. The matter is still pending before the court.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.