RTI responses reveal that Meira Kumar used her ministerial post as Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment by setting up Babu Jagjiwan Ram National Foundation-BJRNF from funds available from the ministry. Main task of the foundation is to organise birth and death anniversaries of her late father Banu Jagjiwan Ram on 5th April and 6th July every year also at government-bungalow number 6 Krishna Menon Marg, New Delhi even when it was an unauthorised memorial of her father kept unauthorisedly encroached and trespassed, before it was allotted to Babu Jagjiwan Ram National Foundation in last days of earlier UPA government bypassing all norms set by the year 2000-notification of the Union Cabinet. Otherwise interest accumulated annually on the funds given to the Foundation by Union government keep on accumulated year after year without any purpose. It is not known why name of other family-branch through son late Suresh Kumar did not appear anywhere in papers of the foundation.
Present central government should order detailed study about working of Babu Jagjiwan Ram National Foundation also to establish if such celebrations of birth and death anniversaries at cost of a foundation set up at public-cost are in accordance with the year 2000-notification of the Union Cabinet. Even allotment of prime type-VIII bungalow to the foundation and setting up of a memorial in Leyton zone of New Delhi contradicts the said notification of the Union Cabinet passed in year 2000. Central government must honour the year-2000 notification of Union Cabinet in this regard by doing away with any irregularity done by previous UPA regime including celebration of birth and death anniversaries of the departed leader at funds through government-funded foundation, and by cancelling allotment of government-bungalow to the foundation by making it available for allotment to some deserving one.
SUBHASH CHANDRA AGRAWAL