GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
Ministry of External Affairs

RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2982
TO BE ANSWERED ON May 3, 2012
Purchase of Gifts by Ministry

2982. SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR:

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a)   Whether Government’s attention has been drawn to media reports about purchase of substandard gifts for presenting it to foreign dignitaries by the President, Prime Minister and other high-ranking officials, at inflated rates;

(b)   If so, the details thereof;

(c)    Whether Government has conducted any enquiry into the matter; and

(d)   If so, the details thereof and the action taken in this regard?

ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OE EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
(SHRI E. AHAMED)

(a) Yes.

(b) It came to the notice of the Ministry in May 2011 that some of the gifts being procured by the Protocol Division of the Ministry were not of the desired quality and specification.

(c) & (d) A preliminary inquiry was conducted into the matter by the Ministry which could not establish prima facie any involvement or complicity of officials of the Ministry. A detailed investigation into the matter has thereafter been entrusted to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The enquiry by CBI is ongoing.