Cheating, forgery in Chennai Port Trust’s Hindi Day fete

By G Saravanan

source:http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/cheating-forgery-in-chpt%E2%80%99s-hindi-day-fete/238670.html

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai, on January 11, 2011:

CHENNAI: An RTI query filed by the Port and Dock Labour Union with the Chennai Port Trust (ChPT) has revealed that one of its officials, responsible for organising Hindi Day celebrations, has forged signatures of the judges and swindled off the Trust’s money by submitting fudged bills. The officer has, however, denied all the charges.

The startling disclosure came to light after the union, an affiliate of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), obtained the details of expenditure incurred during the Hindi Day celebrations held in 2008 and 2009 through an RTI query and verified the details.

Speaking to Express, R Santhanam, general secretary of the union, said, “We moved an RTI plea after finding irregularities in the celebrations and was astonished to find the Hindi officer of the Port Trust, V Beebinabi, had indulged in such a forgery act and fudging of bills to swindle the Trust’s fund allotted for the annual celebration.”

The ChPT roughly allocates about Rs one lakh for the annual Hindi Day celebration every year. Though the info from the ChPT said that the Hindi officer had paid sitting fees to 13-odd judges who came from the Official Language department of the Union Home Ministry, another RTI plea with the ministry revealed that no one from the office has ever acted as a judge at the Chennai Port’s Hindi Day celebrations.

Meanwhile, Beebinabi while speaking to Express denied the allegations stating that it was a ploy against her to block her promotion.