Bengaluru: Following reports that a lot of money had been spent on refurbishing Raj Bhavan and on gadgets and a high-end car, the state government on Friday clarified that Governor Vajubhai Vala had never asked for renovation of his official residence.
Principal Secretary, Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) Dr E.V. Ramana Reddy, in his statement, said, “There are reports in a section of the media that money has been lavishly spent on renovation work at Raj Bhavan. A news channel has gone a step ahead claiming that the works were taken up at the instance of the governor.”
Raj Bhavan, which has a history of two centuries is a heritage building. It is visited by Heads of States and Heads of Governments - both from India and abroad. The Public Works Department takes care of both maintenance of the building as well as the surroundings of Raj Bhavan, keeping in view not only the dignity of the governor’s office but to honour high-profile visitors too. The building maintenance or renovation, which is taken up once in three or five years, is a routine exercise.
Dr Reddy said that Mr Vala had not demanded any renovation work at Raj Bhavan. The charges made against Mr Vala in the news story are not only false but also baseless, he clarified.
Action sought against TV channel
Raj Bhavan has sought an investigation and action against Public TV, a Kannada TV channel for what it described as “telecast of derogatory content”. Mr H.K. Parmar, special officer to Governor Vajubai Vala dashed off a letter to chief secretary, Kaushik Mukherjee and said the TV channel was telecasting news against the governor at regular intervals since Friday morning.
“The expenditure made at Raj Bhavan was in accordance with government rules. Without ascertaining the facts and getting our reaction, the channel has been saying that the governor was spending lavishly thereby causing damage to the reputation of the governor. The governor is annoyed over this development,” he said.
