GUWAHATI: The Assam government has reportedly ordered a probe into the allegations of misuse of funds meant for tiger conservation in Kaziranga during a visit of then president Ram Nath Kovind to the national park in February 2022.
According to a PTI report, the Assam government has directed an additional chief secretary to ‘examine’ the alleged diversion of funds under tiger conservation and other projects to the visit of Kovind and his family to Kaziranga National Park.
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Speaking to PTI, Assam environment and forest minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said that additional chief secretary Ravi Shankar Prasad has been directed to look after the allegations.
“We have asked Prasad to examine the entire issue. He is currently examining if funds allocated to tiger projects and other conservation efforts were diverted and misused during the visit of the former President to Kaziranga National Park,” the Assam minister said.
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In a sensational revelation recently, it was learnt that around Rs 1.1 crore from a corpus fund meant for tiger conservation in Kaziranga National Park in Assam was misused.
An official reply to an RTI revealed that the money meant for tiger conservation was used to pay for food, tents, carpets and mementoes, among other things, during former President Ram Nath Kovind’s visit to the sanctuary in February 2022.
The RTI was filed by Assam-based RTI activist Rohit Choudhury’s petition.