As culture is being used of late as a handle to beat Moditva, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has stepped in to clean up the mess in one of the country’s premier cultural institutions, Lalit Kala Akademi, which was dominated for years by various lobbies favoured by the previous regime. An internal draft audit, launched by the Ministry of Culture (MoC) at the behest of the PMO, reveals blatant financial irregularities during the UPA regime, causing massive losses to the academy. Lalit Kala Akademi is an autonomous body and is fully funded by the MoC. The audit has found the following anomalies:
1. On October 29, 2013, a payment of over Rs 1 lakh was made to security services that were booked under the plan head of promotion and dissemination activities.
2. Vehicle hire charges of over Rs 1 lakh on January 16, 2014, were placed under promotion of national exhibition of art.
3. Compensatory allowance of Rs 73,715 to staff for attending office beyond office hours was booked under promotion and dissemination activities. (The report, which has noted that expenses should have been covered under other administrative expenses, has advised the Akademi to review cases of diversion of funds.)
4. Illegal allotment of the academy’s galleries to foreign missions and private parties has caused revenue losses. In 2012-2013, galleries were given to Sri Lankan and Austrian embassies, and other private parties free of cost, thus causing a loss of Rs 15 lakh. In 2013-14, the galleries were given to private parties causing a loss of Rs 5 lakh, and in 2014-15, the total loss due to violation of allotment rules was Rs 32 lakh. Allotting galleries to embassies and private organisations free of cost has been a practice naming them as collaborative shows despite explicit mention in the rules that “no exemption from payment of license fee shall be allowed to anyone whether the name of Lalit Kala Akademi is mentioned in applicant’s exhibition brochure or not.” The audit suggested that the licence fee due may be recovered from the organisation concerned.
5. Chitpur and Pooja projects, run by the Kolkata office, have come under the scanner for delay. Pooja project has already exceeded the approved budget of Rs 20 lakh but nothing concrete has been achieved towards its completion.
The audit has observed frequent instances of flouting of rules and procedures. It has categorically stated that being a fully funded body, the Akademi is bound to follow all government rules.
“Before seeking further grants, the Akademi should furnish details of recoveries effected on account of audit observations to the grant sanctioning authority, under intimation to audit,” the report said.