I’m PM’s chosen man to check corruption: Rocky

GURGAON: Manohar Lal Khattar’s publicity adviser and Haryanvi singer Rocky Mittal said he is the choice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has been assigned the task of uprooting corruption in the state bureaucracy.

Mittal further said he has also been asked to promote art and culture.

Talking to the press on Thursday, Rocky said his focus is to cut the size of the annual budget of Haryana’s department of information and public relation (DIPR).

He said the annual budget of the department in 2016 was ₹120 crore.

“This is a big amount that bureaucrats misused. For example, a professional Bollywood singer took ₹25 lakh for a single stage show during Swarna Jayanti celebrations in November. Why would the government spend such a huge amount? I could have done for free. I doubt DIPR has spent ₹120 crore in a fair way and that is why the CM has announced that he will set up a committee under principal secretary Rajesh Khullar to improve the functioning,” the adviser said.

“On my advice, a few bureaucrats were suspended for wrong doing and that is why I am in the good books of the CM,” he said.

The state never had such a post in any of the previous governments and Rocky’s appointment as the publicity adviser four months ago had raised eyebrows.