LTC scam: NHAI for tough action against officials

The National Highways Authority of India has recommended strong action against eight of its senior officials involved in the LTC scam, which includes recovery of extra expenditure on foreign visits and registering “adverse remarks” in their annual confidential reports (ACRs).

The scam relates to a trip to Port Blair on LTC by these officers, along with their family members, and clubbing their visits to Malaysia and Singapore, thus flouting rules. They are all in the rank of general manager and below.

Stating that visit to foreign countries can never be part of the LTC package, NHAI has suggested recovering “extra expenditure incurred on foreign visits from these eight officers”. “As proposed, an adverse warning should be recorded in their ACRs,” NHAI CVO Satish Chandra said in an internal document of the Road Transport and Highways Ministry. 

The official line is that since any “package” is not permissible under LTC and boarding and lodging cannot be separated, the entire amount is illegal.