CBI has liabilities of Rs 47cr, 500 posts vacant, agency tells minister

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday made a presentation before minister for personnel Jitendra Singh during which he was candidly told that the perception about the agency enjoying autonomy is ‘misplaced’ and the organisation has to face multiple hurdles in its day-to-day functioning. CBI said it had to depend on DoPT, CVC, Home Ministry and Ministry of law for its different needs. Citing acute financial crunch as a result of multiple layers of decision-making, CBI made a power-point presentation in which the agency said it has liabilities of over Rs 47 crore besides over 500 posts are vacant. The presentation made by CBI, which was to be kept confidential, came in public domain as the minister insisted on bringing the media, which was waiting for a briefing in the press room on the ground floor of the agency headquarters, to the conference room where programme was going on. The programme, termed by the minister as ‘introduction’ with the agency officers, was to be held in the confines of the conference room at the CBI headquarters where only CBI officers and Singh were present.