The All India Industrial Exhibition Society (AIIES) has a history of not paying dues to the Fire Services Department and seeking concessions from the government, a lawyer has claimed.
According to Khaja Aijazuddin, who had filed a public interest litigation in the Andhra Pradesh High Court, the AIIES had to pay around ₹80 lakh since 2011 as standby charges for fire engines at the sprawling Numaish grounds. It was after a PIL and several follow-ups later that these dues were eventually paid.
The government, Mr. Aijazuddin said, has accorded concessions to the AIIES.
As per GO RT 792, the Home (Prison A) Department drastically reduced charges for fire engines stationed at the exhibition grounds. While another GO prescribes that the ‘collection of standby charges for provision of standby fire vehicle at a public function such as exhibitions, fairs, carnivals, etc. in annexure at ₹1,500 per hour or part thereof subject to a maximum of ₹15,000 per day’, the AIIES wrote to the government and sought a massive reduction in charges citing its charitable work.
The GO RT 792 states that these charges were reduced from the prescribed ₹15,000 per day to ₹75,000 per week for a period of six to seven weeks annually. Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Aijazuddin said,
Inquiry sought
“The AIIES has taken such a huge concession from the State government and yet, there was a lapse in fire prevention. This is strange. How can the government give them such a big concession? The matter should be probed by a person no less than the rank of a High Court judge.”