CAG faults Kalakshetra, director goes
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Trouble has been brewing in Kalakshetra for a long time.
There are complex litigations relating to its vast, and very pricey, real estate by the Besant Nagar beach; and, there are also cases filed by a retired Bharatanatyam guru called C. S. Thomas in the Madras HC seeking a vigilance probe into alleged financial irregularities committed by the foundation director Ms Leela Samson. She in turn has filed a defamation suit against him.
The climax came on April 10, when the foundation’s governing board met under its chairman Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the former West Bengal Governor and a man known for his sharp intelligence and impeccable integrity.
It was an embarrassing agenda that stared at the faces of the GB members, who included some highly respected members of Chennai’s elite, besides senior officials of the culture ministry.
They sought answers for the ‘inspection report’ on the audit of the foundation accounts done by the principal accountant general (who comes under the Comptroller & Auditor General of India) last year, wherein serious questions had been raised about a Rs 3.90 crore contract for video documenting the dance-dramas of Kalakshetra; improper spending on the renovation of hostel kitchen, upgrading sound system, buying sound & lighting equipment, alterations to the Koothambalam auditorium; and, appointments made sans sanctions.
The GB also took up the issue of Ms Samson’s retirement. The director has already crossed the retirement age of 60 and reportedly sought extension.
Former Kalakshetra guru C S Thomas had filed a quo warranto case in the Madras high court asking that she be directed to step down as Kalashetra, being a public institution administered by the Union culture ministry, has fixed the age of superannuating at 60. By the end of the GB session, Ms Samson put in her papers.
The ministry quickly accepted her resignation and asked deputy director Karunaker K Menon to hold fort until a successor was decided.
Ms Samson insisted that she did not quit because of the AG’s audit objections. “I turned 60 and the government is not willing to extend (term). Apparently, the norm is 60 and somebody (Thomas) has filed a PIL.
Audit observations are something that all government institutions get every year. We get inspection reports every year.
They (AG) are doing their job, we are doing ours”, she told DC.
Asked about her future plans, Ms Samson quipped, “I am going to keep quiet for a while, read a bit”.
But it appears her bete noire Thomas is not going to let her rest with her books.
“The AG’s report has hugely strengthened our case for vigilance probe. We will push for it”, said his lawyer Ms R T Shyamala.
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