"Prima facie it appears there was a major food scam of Rs 51.60 lakh pertaining to very substandard and rotten meals served to police personnel deployed at the 2016 BRICS Summit in Goa," the two-member Commission noted.
The panel, headed by retired District Judge A D Salkar, was hearing a petition filed by social activist Aires Rodrigues who had claimed "inhuman treatment" was meted out to policemen and substandard food provided to them during the mega meet attended by leaders of five emerging economies, including India.
Inspector Anuskha A Pai Bir, representing the Police Department, told the commission that the Goa government had incurred expenditure of Rs 51.60 lakh towards supply of food packets and refreshment to 5,000 policemen deployed for the summit between October 14-17.
The panel said it appears that though food contract was awarded to M/s Amoncar Classic Caterers, it was a sub-contractor who supplied the eatables.
The GSHRC directed the Chief Secretary to conduct a thorough investigation and fix responsibility on erring officials.
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