Skip to main content

LTC scam involving government employees and PSU officials


LTC Scam Case involving Higher Officials of Central Government Departments and PSUs which was referred to Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), has now been handed over to CBI as reported in leading News Papers. CBI will call the shots hereafter in this alleged misuse of Leave Travel Concession (LTC) in large scale by claiming LTC using forged Air tickets and boarding passes.

These fraudulent activities have been alleged to be committed by central Government and PSU in the ranks of under secretary and above.

Times of India reports in this matter as follows

The CBI has been called in by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to investigate a widespread racket in claims of leave travel concession (LTC) involving central government and public sector employees as well as travel agents.

The CBI, which was asked on August 16 by CVC to carry out a criminal investigation, is likely to question dozens of such employees. Large sums are said to have been siphoned out of the government by producing fake Air India tickets and boarding passes (the only airline that government and PSU employees are allowed to use for LTC).

A sizeable number are of the rank of under secretary and above. Most of them claimed to have travelled with their family to the extremities of the country — the northeast, Kerala and the Andamans. The racket, said sources, has been one of the worst kept secrets although there was no actionable evidence against it.

The Kolkata Police was the first to stumble upon the LTC racket in March this year when it detained a passenger at Kolkota airport with more than 600 blank boarding passes of Air India. He was to board a SpiceJet aircraft to Port Blair. On being interrogated, he claimed that he was to deliver it to someone in the Andamans. The surmise is that this someone in the Andamans was to fill up fictitious details of flights there on the blank boarding passes. An investigation by the police is underway, sources said.

Air India’s vigilance division began an investigation after the airline was asked about the fake boarding passes. Initial inquiries by the airline confirmed that it was a fairly widespread practice among government employees to manipulate LTC by submitting forged boarding pass and tickets, and hugely inflating fares.

In March, the Rajya Sabha secretariat asked Air India for verification of seven tickets issued by a travel agency to secretariat employees on the Delhi-Kolkota-Port Blair sector. Air India reported back that the tickets and boarding passes were fabricated. “No such journey has been undertaken by the seven people,” Air India said.

The fictitious tickets submitted to the RS secretariat turned out to be a crude job — they included a business class ticket, even though Air India has no business class seats to Port Blair. Some of the boarding passes had the same number, even same seat numbers. And each ticket was for Rs 1.35 lakh, although the fare on that particular day was nowhere near that amount.

Air India also carried out an internal investigation into another complaint, this one from the Ordnance Factory Board. From the Board’s Jabalpur plant over 400 employees and their families ostensibly travelled to the northeast to avail LTC between 2006 and 2008. Under a special order of the government to promote tourism in northeast, even the lowest ranked government employees and their families can fly to northeast sector and claim airfare under LTC.

A ticket submitted by a Jabalpur employee was found to have been valued at an incredible Rs 2.11 lakh; it’s hardly surprising that it turned out to be a forgery. While the e-tickets were definitely forged, it is still not clear how on many of these tickets people actually travelled.

It is suspected that some of these tickets may have been bought by cash by travel agents from Air India. And then they may have created forged e-tickets, showing higher fares. Whatever may be the case, the CBI is expected to investigate all the 400 families that travelled to northeast from Jabalpur, sources said.

Sources also said the LTC racket appears to be rampant across government departments, public sector units, and public sector banks.

It also appears that many officials submit forged boarding passes and e-tickets of travel between Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram, while they are actually travelling to Colombo or Singapore. In other words, on the basis of their LTC claims, employees are undertaking foreign trips, which this facility doesn’t allow.

 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Duties and additional duties of Postman----for information of all supervisory cadre

  DG(P) No.11-1/2010-Admn dated 18-11-2010 NO.25-20/2008-PE-I Government of India Ministry of Communications & IT Department of Posts (Establishment Division)                                                                                                        Dak Bhavan, Sansad Marg                                                                                          New Delhi                                                                                                       Dated 25.11.2008   TO              All Heads of Circles/Regions,   Subject: Additional duties for Postman/Delivery Staff.                                       On account of changes in work scenario of the Post offices brought about due to the induction of technology and primacy of business products, the duties and responsibilities of the postman have undergone a vast change. In order to incorporate these changes, the following duties are prescribed in addition to t
ENHANCEMENT OF FINANCIAL POWERS OF HSG, HSG-II AND LSG POST MASTERS ( THESE ORDERS ARE IN FORCE. NO REVISION TAKES PLACE SINCE 21 YEARS) A reference is invited to Circular No.62-8/64-CI dated 20.10.1965 delegating financial powers to HSG and LSG Postmasters to incur expenditure of a contingent nature on the following items: a) Replacing, repairing, cleaning, oiling, shifting of electric lights and fittings, fans etc. of the office in a rented building when the charge is a Government liability. b) Repairs of Department bicycles. c) Purchase of earthen pots, glass tumblers, dusters, brooms etc. d) Purchase and repairs to furniture. e) Emergent arrangements for conveyance of mails. 2. The question of enhancement of the powers were being examined in the Directorate in view of the rise in the prices and it has been decided to enhance the powers given to HSG & LSG Postmasters from Rs.30 & Rs.20/- respectively on each occasion to Rs.60/- & Rs.40/- respectively on each o
GRANT OF TA & TRANSIT (TA & TP) TO OFFICIALS TRANSFERRED ON COMPLETION OF TENURE TO THE PLACE OF THEIR CHOICE . A proposal on grant TA and transit to officials who are transferred on completion of tenure to the place of their choice was under consideration in this Directorate for sometime past.      SR-114 governs TA on transfer distinguishes between transfer for public convenience and transfer on own request.  Although transfer on completion of tenure in one office has not been specifically referred to in this rule, yet the transfer on completion of tenure is a transfer for public convenience.  On completion of tenure, the official has to be transferred out for operational reasons.  Therefore, such a transfer is mandatory, while posting to a place of choice is secondary and subject to public convenience.  In view of this posting to a place of choice after completion of full tenure may not be normally termed as a "transfer on own request" under SR-114.      It