Jaipur11 hours ago
The CBI raided the residence of Arvind Mayaram, advisor to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. These raids by CBI teams have been done in Delhi and Jaipur. The CBI had registered a scam case against Arvind Mayaram in the tender for printing notes when he was the Union Finance Secretary in the Manmohan Singh government.
At that time there was an allegation of currency printing scam of Rs 1688 crore. The CBI has also seized several documents from the whereabouts of Arvind Mayaram in connection with the scam. According to sources, a complaint about this scam was made in 2017.
Contract given to blacklisted company
Actually, this case is related to a blacklisted British company (DelaRau) supplying material for printing currency. The company was blacklisted in the year 2011 itself due to the poor quality of the material.
Despite this, when Arvind Mayaram was the Finance Secretary, an order was issued to buy colorful thread used for printing notes, giving the company an extension of three years without tender process. It is said that this order was worth about 1688 crores. This purchase took place in 2012 while the company was already blacklisted. It is said that the name of the Indian representative of this company was also linked to the Panama Papers leak. In this case, the Central Government had sent a notice to Arvind Mayaram in 2017.
CBI officers leaving Arvind Mayaram’s house. CBI officials had conducted the raids on Thursday afternoon. Mayaram is a former IAS officer of 1978 batch.
Transferred as soon as the Modi government came to the center
On October 16, 2014, when the Modi government made the first major change in bureaucracy, Arvind Mayaram’s name was also there in that list. He was removed from finance and sent to tourism ministry. Mayaram had not even joined the post that just 15 days later on October 30, he was transferred to the Minority Department.
Arvind Mayaram is special to Gehlot
Arvind Mayaram has been the Finance Secretary in the UPA government. Mayaram is counted among the officers close to Gehlot. He was considered close to Chidambaram during the UPA government. Last days, he also participated in Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Alwar.
Chief Minister’s Finance Advisor Mayaram has been the Financial Advisor and Special Secretary in the Rural Development Department at the Center. He has also served as Joint Secretary in the Union Finance Ministry. Mayaram, who has been Secretary in Tourism, Planning and Industry in Rajasthan Government, has been Collector in Alwar and Bundi.
Arvind Mayaram’s family with political heritage
Gehlot’s advisor Arvind Mayaram’s family has been an old Congress family. Arvind Mayaram’s mother Indira Mayaram was a minister in Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s first government from 1998 to 2002. She had been a Congress MLA from Sanganer.
As soon as the Modi government came, Arvind Mayaram was removed from the Finance Department and sent to the Tourism Department.