प्रेस क्लब को एक करोड़ रुपये का घाटा

प्रेस क्लब ऑफ इंडिया कंगाल

दिल्ली का प्रेस क्लब ऑफ इंडिया एक करोड़ रुपये के घाटे में है। ट्रेजरार नदीम अहमद काजमी के मुताबिक प्रेस क्लब ने कर्मचारियों के पीएफ और ईएसआई की रकम जमा कराने में कई बार देरी की। यही नहीं फंड की कमी के कारण कई बार बिजली का बिल और किराया भी समय पर जमा नहीं कराया जा सका है। नदीम के मुताबिक प्रेस क्लब ने एक बैंक से पांच लाख रुपये का कर्ज भी लिया है। उनके इस खुलासे से प्रेस क्लब के महासचिव पुष्पेंद्र कुलश्रेष्ट की “ईमानदारी” पर सवालिया निशान लग गया है।

प्रेस क्लब के सदस्यों को भेजे गए इस ई-मेल में ट्रेजरार ने क्लब के लेखा-जोखा में भारी धांधली का आरोप लगाते हुए इमरजेंसी ईजीएम बुलाने की मांग की है। नदीम अहमद काजमी ने ये भी कहा है कि तीन साल पहले क्लब की माली हालत मजबूत थी। तब घाटा 25 लाख रुपये के करीब था लेकिन क्लब के खाते में उतना ही पैसा नकदी के तौर पर पड़ा था। लेकिन आज हालत बहुत ख़राब है।

“जनतंत्र” पर ये पहले ही बताया जा चुका है कि प्रेस क्लब के हिसाब-किताब का ऑडिट पांच साल से नहीं हुआ है। हमने यह भी बताया था कि मैनेजमेंट कमेटी की मंजूरी के बगैर क्लब के कामकाज को निजी हाथों में सौंपने की तैयारी चल रही है। यही नहीं 28 जून को कपूर नाम का एक कॉन्ट्रेक्टर अपने 40-45 गुर्गों के साथ क्लब में दाखिल हो गया था। उस मामले की कर्मचारियों ने पुलिस से लिखित शिकायत भी की। तब काफी हंगामा मचा जिसके बाद अध्यक्ष ने ई-मेल भेज कर क्लब के सदस्यों को जानकारी दी कि ऐसी कोई योजना नहीं है।

निजीकरण की साज़िश

लेकिन अब क्लब के ट्रेजरार नदीम अहमद काजमी ने खुलासा किया है कि मैजनमेंट कमेटी की मंजूरी के बगैर एक ठेकेदार को क्लब का ऊपरी हिस्सा दे दिया गया है। यही नहीं उस ठेकेदार को नकद भुगतान भी किया गया है।

यही नहीं नदीम के मुताबिक प्रेस क्लब के खर्च का ब्योरा बहीखाता पर दर्ज नहीं है। यही नहीं कच्ची पर्चियों पर नकद भुगतान किया गया है। ये नियमों के ख़िलाफ़ है। कुछ समय पहले भी नदीम ने खुलासा किया था कि मैनेजमेंट कमेटी से मंजूरी लिए बगैर बैंक में प्रेस क्लब का एक गोपनीय खाता खुलवाया गया था। इस खाते के जरिए काफी लेन-देन हुआ। इन आरोपों से क्लब में बड़े पैमाने पर धांधली का संदेह होता है। ऐसे में सच का पता लगाने के लिए निष्पक्ष जांच जरूरी है। इन ताज़ा आरोपों पर सबको क्लब के जनरल सेक्रेटरी के जवाब का इंतज़ार है।

प्रेस क्लब के ट्रेजरार नदीम अहमद काजमी का ताज़ा ई-मेल

Dear Members,

I believe that the time has come for me to share matters relating to the alarming state of our finances. As of now our debt burden is nearly Rs. One Crore. But before I dwell on this in detail, let me give a little background of events.

As you know in my last letter to the members I had informed all of you that ever since this Managing Committee was elected al financial decisions have been taken by the Secretary General and a small coterie around him. All matters relating to accounts are kept under his strict control and all expenditures have been authorized by him. However, following the furor after the bid to privatize the Press Club a hurried meeting of the Managing Committee was called on July 4th 2009. Here it was decided that I would oversee financial matters of the Club. On July 7th 2009 I called a meeting of the accounts staff to ascertain as to what was the actual status of the financial health of the Club was as the Committee had decided to ask me to go through the papers. What I found was alarming and I have decided to share it with the all the members.

As I have mentioned before our debt burden is around Rs One crore and we have overdrawn over Rs 5 lakhs from the bank. Here what is important is that we have defaulted on essential payments like Provident Fund, ESI, Electricity, rental etc.

Why has this happened? This sorry state of affairs has come about because no control over expenditure has been followed and my orders to the account staff has either been overruled or flouted. For instance, I had ordered that we cannot under law allow any cash transaction of more than Rs.5000 per day. But cash far in excess of this amount has been paid to vendors time and time again. Payments (against my orders) have been made on improper bills (kucha bills) in cash. No purchase sanction register has been maintained. Full details of payments made are not provided to the accounts department. The Accounts department also has no record of the new members that have been made. No money has been earned from the Media centre even though we charge members from its use. I could go on and on with this saga of mismanagement, but I will reserve the rest for the EGM.

Before I end, I would like to point out two other anomalies. Some services of the Club have already been privatized. Some months ago all catering for the upstairs hall that we give on hire has been handed over to a private caterer and this was done without any approval from the Managing Committee. What is more shocking is that this Caterer has been receiving payments in cash which is a gross violation of all rules and regulations.

Finally, I would like to say that to save this Club from further disaster an emergency EGM be called where all of us can find out ways and means to bring the Club out of its current mess.

Nadeem Ahmad Kazmi
Treasurer

प्रेस क्लब के ट्रेजरार नदीम अहमद काजमी का पुराना ई-मेल

Dear members, 3-7-09
It is after a lot of deliberation coupled with disgust with the events that have unfolded at the Press Club of India that I have decided to write this letter to you. Yesterday, the President Mr. Parvez Ahmed wrote an open letter to the members stating that the Managing Committee had no intention of privatizing the Kitchen. He further stated that the agitating Staff was either “confused/misinformed” about the issue.

However, the matter is not a question of the Staff being confused or misinformed about the bid to outsource the Club, the fact is that on Sunday June 28th a contractor calling himself Mr. Kapoor entered the Club with forty others, claiming that he had been given a contract to run the Club.

Let me give a brief account of the events that happened on Sunday June 28th. At around 1.30 P.M. in the afternoon I received urgent calls from the members of the staff and esteemed members who wanted to find out as to when had the Managing Committee decided to privatize the Club. These people also informed me that One Mr. Kapoor along with 40 other persons was pressurizing the staff to hand over the keys of the kitchen stores and the bar to him as he had been authorized by the Secretary General Mr. Pushpendra Kulshreshtra to take over running of the Club. Not only that at 1.45 P.M. he ordered that the bar be closed at 2 P.M. At this angry members present at the Club informed the police who came in and Mr.Kapoor along with his bunch of goons were evicted from the Club. A police complaint has been registered against Mr. Kapoor and his gang by the members present and also the staff.

I arrived at the Club at around 3 P.M. and I was virtually surrounded by agitated members of the Club and also the Staff who wanted to know whether the Managing Committee had passed any order authorizing the Club services to be privatized. I told them that nothing of this sort had happened.

Meanwhile, the Secretary General Mr. Kulshreshtra entered the Club and the agitated workers immediately gheroad him, this continued for sometime. Later, I and Mr. Avtar Negi member of the Managing Committee met Mr. Kulshreshtra and persuaded him to take steps to defuse this volatile situation, but he was adamant and told us that he as the CEO of the Club had every right to take any decision that he wanted including privatization. The language used by the CEO cannot be repeated here. Subsequently, he has stated the same thing to a number of Television channels and internet journals.

In this context I thing the President’s claim days after the incident took place that the staff was confused or misinformed smacks of confusion.
But that is not all; the CEO/Secretary General of the Club in the matter of accounts also runs it as his personal fiefdom. So much so that all the cheque books are kept under his lock and key and all the financial decisions are taken by him. For instance, recently I was informed by our bank that s secret separate account had been opened by him and I was never informed about it. What was the need for this secrecy? Was this done for indulging in some shady cash transactions?

There are many other such instances of that need to be explained and I think that it is imperative that a GBM be called and an impartial enquiry be set up to examine the running of the Club.
Nadeem A Kazmi.

अध्यक्ष की तरफ से भेजा गया जनरल नोटिस

02.07.2009

GENERAL NOTICE FOR MEMBERS OF THE PCI

On behalf of the Managing Committee we want to inform all the respected members of Press Club of India that staff of the PCI is confused/misinformed that Managing Committee is going to outsource the kitchen.

It is totally wrong. We want to clarify that Managing Committee has no intention directly or indirectly to outsource the kitchen and retrench PCI staff.

( Parvez Ahmed )
President

http://janatantra.com/2009/06/30/pc-in-hand-of-contractor/