State yet to foot IAF Bill

BHUBANESWAR: The Indian Air Force (IAF) may have come to the Orissa Government’s rescue in the hour of crisis __ be it in times of natural calamities or for logistic support during the anti-Naxal operations __ but when it comes to payment, the latter is on defaulters’ list. The State continues to have huge outstanding over the last three years prompting the IAF to seek the Chief Secretary’s intervention in the matter. The IAF has sent a bill for ` 4.51 crore to the State Government last week and requested that it be settled at the earliest. The outstanding has accumulated over the years. The IAF bill takes into account the airlift services rendered since May 2007 to April 2009. In its letter to the Chief Secretary, the IAF Headquarters (HQ) stated it provided air services to the Orissa Government during emergency by sparing the aircraft from different tasks. The IAF sent the bills raised for its services to different departments of the State Government seeking payment but the latter has not settled the dues. “As on June 30, the outstanding airlift bills amount to ` 4,51,83,998 for airlift services,” the letter said. The IAF has also made it clear that since the outstanding amount has been long pending, it has drawn adverse comments from Controller of Defence Accounts (Air Force) and the latter has asked the HQ to reconcile the payment or convey the reasons for delay. Of the total outstanding, the bills raised in 2008 were the highest when the Government utilised the services of the IAF during the floods. The 2008 floods were one of the worst in the decade necessitating massive relief efforts from the Government machinery. That year the IAF services were pegged at ` 3.30 crore. In 2007, the outstanding was ` 98.8 lakh while for 2009, it was ` 22.5 lakh. Even as in the current year, the Air Force services were used for relief distribution for several days which could add to the dues, it has requested for early settlement of the outstanding so that audit authorities are informed about the status. Interestingly, the State Government, which has been using services of Central para-military force in the Maoist-affected districts, had urged the Union Home Ministry to waive the dues amounting to a whopping ` 567 crore earlier this week.