MPRDC paid 5 lakh for decoration of chief secretary's house?

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation (MPRDC), a state-owned company responsible for upkeep of transport related infrastructure, has paid about Rs 5 lakh on interior decoration of chief secretary Avni Vaishya's house in a posh locality here.
According to a letter written by a senior official of Public Works Department (PWD), a bill of Rs 4,96,912 was sent to the corporation for payment on account of “interior design services for the Chief Secretary Bungalow at Char Imli” area.
The letter written by Chandra Prakash Agrawal, Additional Secretary of PWD, which was accessed through an RTI query filed by an activist here, has directed the chief engineer of his department to get the renovation work done and send the bill for payment to MPRDC.
Following the directive, a demi-official note was sent to the Managing Director of MPRDC by PWD to clear the payment for the work carried out by Wood Craft Agency at the Chief Secretary's B-13 bungalow, the reply said.
Besides, three work orders of Rs two lakh each were also issued by PWD in July this year for the renovation work at Vaishya's house.
“It is a violation of government norms. How can Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation pay for the work done by PWD which is the only agency responsible for maintaining government houses. More than Rs 5 lakhhave been spent by MPRDC violating norms,” said RTI applicant Ajay Dubey.
However, authorities remained tight-lipped about the incident. Calls made to the Chief Secretary and MPRDC, MD, Vivek Agrawal's office did not yield response.
“The roads maintained by MPRDC are in extremely bad condition. It is sad to note that its money is being used for interior designing work at a bureaucrat's bungalow,” Dubey said.
State chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had on August 10 this year written to Union road transport and highways minister C P Joshi to express displeasure over improper upkeep of many key roads and sought their possession. PTI
"It is a violation of government norms. How can MPRDC pay for the work done by PWD which is the only agency responsible for maintaining government houses," said Ajay Dubey, RTI applicant. _ _ __ _ _