The Nation:VIP Defaulters; Eat now, Pay never

Politicians in Delhi think the Government owes them a living. That perhaps explains why many don' t bother to pay their food, electricity and telephone bills.

In more ways than one, the VIP politician remains a class apart. An entire nation may groan about interminable power cuts, but the air conditioner at the politician's bungalow never ceases to hum. His lush lawns will be flushed with gallons of potable water when a majority of the population thirsts for every drop. His unpaid telephone bills may run into six figures, yet there is little the department can do to keep him off the hook. He often throws lavish parties at five-star hotels but his hefty food bills are rare, if ever, cleared. This defiant, devil-may-care attitude is all pervasive but the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government, shaken with internal turmoil, is yet to stir into action.

Unpaid Dues
C Shekhar	0.40	10.0	12.0
M Scindia		6.0	2.17
Rajesh Pilot		2.0	10.0
G K Chowdhury		2.0	42.0
Kalpnath Rai		4.0	1.8
G Fernandes		2.5	4.0
Suresh Kalmandi		0.7	4.49
Viyaraje Scindia			8.0
Shibu Soren		7.0
K P Unnikrishnan			6.5
S Singh Verma	0.61
Sanjay Singh			4.0
Raj Babbar			6.8
G N Azad	4.0
AICC	4.0
Indian Youth Congress	8.88
All figures in Rs lakh

Flouting the law is second nature to the politician, big or small. Former prime minister Chandra Shekhar, for instance, owes the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) a staggering Rs 10 lakh for power and water consumption alone at his South Avenue residence where he has been staying for over two decades, even when he was not an MP. The veteran leader leads a pack of 51 present and former ministers and MPs who between them owe the NDMC over Rs 74 lakh.

Among the notables with similar dubious distinctions are Shibu Soren whose arrears run close to Rs 7 lakh, Madhavrao Scindia (Rs 6 lakh), Kalpnath Rai (Rs 4 lakh), G. Venkataswamy (Rs 3 lakh), Ghani Khan Chowdhury, Rajesh Pilot and P.V. Rajeshwar Rao (Rs 2 lakh each), Jagannath Mishra, Jitendra Prasada, Madhavsinh Solanki, Parag Chaliha, P.M. Sayeed and Munaveer Hasan (Rs 1.5 lakh each). Even Union Defence Minister George Fernandes finds his name on the "blacklist": his pending bills amount to Rs 2.5 lakh. Chandra Shekhar, who makes Parliament sit up and listen to his riveting speeches on the plight of the underprivileged, has a predilection for dining in five-star hotels. But when it's time to pay up, his memory often fails. He still owes the ITDC-owned Ashok Hotel Rs 40,000 and has joined the club of those who presumably believe that star hotels ought to be honoured that a VVIP like him chose to dine out there. According to a note put up to Union Tourism Minister Madan Lal Khurana on June 22, this unique club of MPs has "availed (restaurant) services beyond their entitlement"(see box). Still precious little has been done to stem the rot. While most owe money in lakhs, even "minor" offenders like Phoolan Devi (Rs 38,169), Tariq Anwar (Rs 10,880) and D.P. Yadav (Rs 1,755) fail to pay up dues that by the standards of an MP are paltry. When asked, Phoolan cannot recall whether she owes money but adds rather righteously: "If MPs don't pay their bills, what message will society get? The Government must be firm in collecting dues." If only, she would put her money where her mouth is.

A Tourism Ministry note declares that even though no efforts have been spared to recover outstanding dues, the arrears amount to over Rs 35 crore as on March 31. While Rs 21.5 crore is owed to ITDC hotels in Delhi alone, another Rs 13.33 crore is owed to other ITDC-run hotels across the country. These unrecovered amounts account for 17 per cent of the turnover of the ITDC's hotels division. Freeloading politicians are not alone to blame. Several ministries and departments of the government of India, perhaps taking a cue from their ministerial bosses, are yet to clear their bills. They include the PMO and the Ministry of External Affairs. Since Delhi hosted the Asian Games in 1982, athletes from the continent have met again for the quadrennial event in Seoul, Beijing, Hiroshima and are due to meet in Bangkok later this year. But the Asiad '82 Society is still shy of paying the Rs 42,000 it owes to an ITDC hotel. Khurana, however, appears determined to bring about change. "There will be no let up in recovery, we plan to tighten the screws on each and every defaulter," he says.

Recovery, though, is not easy, and legal action often time-consuming. The ITDC served a legal notice to Panther's Party chief Bhim Singh in January but is yet to get a response. The Indian Youth Congress (IYC) too is faced with a legal notice, but Sonia Gandhi's youth brigade seems least concerned. As is Delhi's BJP Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma who ran up a bill of Rs 61,000 playing host to the capital's press corps in May 1996. But the tab is caught in a to-and-fro game between Verma and the Delhi BJP.

However, when it comes to non-payment of overdue telephone bills, there's enough room for stern action. Delhi's political VVIPs owe the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) about Rs 15 crore. Most of the defaulters are past and present MPs, who grossly exceeded their quota of one lakh free calls a year. Topping the list is Chowdhury with an outstanding bill of Rs 42 lakh. Chandra Shekhar, who has creditors elsewhere, has left a mark here too: he owes MTNL Rs 12 lakh. Not to be left behind are Vijayaraje Scindia (Rs 8 lakh), Raj Babbar (Rs 6.8 lakh) and S. Jaipal Reddy (Rs 4.5 lakh), though Reddy denies that he owes money to the MTNL. "I owe them nothing. The records, I am sure, are old." Fernandes, who in a recent public display of self-imposed austerity chose to travel to Mumbai by the Rajdhani Express rather than an Indian Airlines flight, shows no such concern when it come to paying his phone bills: he owes MTNL Rs 4 lakh. Ironically, among MTNL's long list of defaulters are three gentlemen who held charge of the department: ex-communications ministers Pilot, K.P. Unnikrishnan and Sanjay Singh who owe Rs 10 lakh, Rs 6.5 lakh and Rs 4 lakh respectively.

It is not as if the MTNL officials shy away from pursuing the chronic defaulters. Once it came close to disconnecting a couple of lines of Sonia's secretary, Vincent George. For this daring brush with power, a senior MTNL official in the Outstanding Pursuits Cell was unceremoniously shunted out. There are provisions in the Indian Telegraph Act allowing the snapping of connections without notice. "If the Government wishes, it can be firm with every citizen, irrespective of position," says Arjan Sikri, lawyer for MTNL. That will is now being displayed by the Union Communications Minister Sushma Swaraj who has asked for a crackdown. Some of the credit, however, ought to go to the Mumbai High Court which, following a petition, asked the ministry to prepare a list of all defaulters, VIP and ordinary.

But with each passing day, unpaid bills only pile up. The Government will have no option but to go on recovery rounds with a stick in hand. A few transfers here and there may, in the long run, be a small price to pay.