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No more 'VIP stay' at Corbett Tiger Reserve

New Delhi: Corbett Tiger Reserve authorities have decided that it will not entertain references from VIPs requesting stay and safari facilities among others either for themselves or for their relatives and friends, instead these requests would be reported to their higher authorities.

The move comes as the Corbett administration has been receiving a large number of communications, through explicit use/display of official position/state symbols, for arranging safari, stay, other private arrangements of various highly placed authorities, which is otherwise a purely personal activity and has nothing to do with discharge of any official duties of the authorities concerned.

On many occasions, even cases of friends/other known ones have been referred to the authorities at Corbett and sometimes the matter has been tried to be pursued in

coercive /intimidating manners, according to a recent official order.

"This is nothing but brazen abuse of official position for seeking favour for personal ends. Such practices also put stress on an already overburdened administration, primary duties of which are habitat management and protection works," it said.

Therefore, in accordance with constitutional principles, orders of the Supreme Court and other relevant rules/notifications in this regard, it is hereby ordered that any communication received through use of official positions, except for those entitled, in any manner, for the said purpose will not be entertained at all, by any of the officials posted in the Corbett Tiger Reserve, Uttarakhand, the order said.

Rules framed by the Uttarakhand government regarding state guests allow very few constitutional functionaries like the president, prime minister, chief justice of India, Lok Sabha speaker, among others to avail such facilities.

"In future such requests are not to be taken cognizance of at all and the same has to be returned immediately, in original, to the office concerned and the matter has to be reported to the higher authorities of such offices for action against them, regarding such abuse of official positions," said Sanjiv Chaturvedi, director of the Corbett Tiger Reserve, in the order.

Uttarakhand has three tiger reserves - Corbett National Park (or tiger reserve), Rajaji Tiger Reserve and Kalagarh Tiger Reserve. ( With PTI inputs)

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