Bedi to pay back excess amount: Abhyas Mandal

INDORE: Abhyas Mandal, a local social organization, received a call from the office of Team Anna's core group member Kiran Bedi's NGO on Monday evening. It was about repaying the fare difference, overcharged during the Magsaysay winner's visit to the city on May 13 in 2009.
"We received a call today from Kiran Bedi-run NGO, Vision India Foundation, asking the organisation's permanent postal address to send a cheque of air fare difference," Shivaji Mohite, secretary, Abhyas Mandal, said, adding that a day before, the organization had informed through email that Bedi had agreed to pay us the difference.
Abhyas Mandal had invited Bedi to deliver a lecture as part of golden jubilee lecture series on May 13 in 2009. For this, the Magsaysay award recipient had sent a bill for business class air fare of Rs 38,871 through a travel agent. Incidentally, the same day, Kiran Bedi had three other programmes in Indore-the IIM-Indore, Punjabi Mahila Sanghathan and the Lions Club. However, on November 27, the Mandal had received an e-mail from Bedi seeking opinion from the social organization. She wrote in the mail- that she has been collecting money for the NGO by travelling in economy and charging business class fare and the difference goes to the NGO. Through email, she asked the Mandal what it thought of the issue.
In his reply, a Mandal office-bearer pointed out the organization is small and carries out activities with the help of collection. "We have been inviting dignitaries and eminent persons for years to run programmes and pay them actual expenses they incur on travelling," Mohite said. He said it was not possible for them to give donations to other organizations in this manner. The Mandal requested Bedi to return the fare difference she had charged from them.
The air fare difference is in the region of Rs 20,000 and 22,000. Social activist Anna Hazare himself had taken up the issue as he was closely associated with the activities of the Mandal.