BENGALURU: The Congress government in the state, which has named a slew of schemes, buildings, roads and canteens (Indira Canteens) after the Gandhi family, wants to name a study chair after former prime minister late Rajiv Gandhi. However, the proposal from the Chief Minister’s Office have been doing the rounds of various departments for the past 10 months due to bureaucratic red tape and lack of clarity over funding.
The CMO sent the proposal to the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Department suggesting that `10 crore be allotted for setting up the Rajiv Gandhi Study Chair to bring out publications to propagate the former prime minister’s ideologies. In their letter, RDPR officials stated that they do not have sufficient funds to set up the chair.
“Initially, it was proposed to set up the chair in a private institute in Bengaluru. But there is no provision for us to fund an initiative which is related to one individual person. So we referred it to the internal finance advisor,” sources in the RDPR department said. The note by the internal finance advisor in the RDPR department, a copy of which is available with Express, states: “Since the institute is a non-government agency, there is no provision to give funds.’’
The file then went back to the Finance Department. The Under Secretary in the Finance Department in his letter stated that the proposal be referred to the Department of Kannada and Culture. When contacted, N R Vishukumar, Director of the Kannada and Culture department, said they are yet to receive any such proposal.
However, he said since it is related to a study chair, it will come under the Education department and not the Kannada and Culture department. L K Ateeq, CM’s Secretary, too said they are not aware of the proposal.
KPCC Working President Dinesh Gundurao said the proposal was not sent from their party office. “It has not come to my notice,’’ he said. He, however, defended the purpose of the study chair. “It was he (Rajiv Gandhi) who brought many changes in Panchayat system by making many amendments.”