Bihar opposition flags IAS officer’s chartered flight travel, govt links criticism to Dalit identity: 'No right to fly?'

RJD MLA Sharma says the opposition only wants to know how an IAS officer can afford a journey by a chartered plane- Representative photo

• Bihar IAS officer Deore questioned over chartered flight use
• Minister says Deore's family flew on official return leg to Patna
• Opposition demands clarity on whether Deore paid for the flight

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Bihar Tourism Department special secretary Nilesh Ramchandra Deore has landed in controversy after the Opposition flagged in the Assembly that he travelled with his family on a chartered flight from New Delhi to Patna last June.

The issue was first raised on Monday in the Bihar Legislative Assembly by RJD MLA Rahul Sharma, who questioned how the IAS officer could afford such travel.

Deore serves as Secretary in both the tourism and civil aviation departments of the Bihar government.

However, Ashok Choudhary, Bihar’s Rural Works Minister, offered a clarification on Monday, saying the travel was linked to an official visit.

“Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Civil Aviation Secretary Nilesh Deore and I were on an official trip from Patna to Delhi last July. The aircraft had to return to Patna in any case. Deore and his family boarded it on the return leg,” Choudhary said.

He also questioned the criticism, asking whether Deore was being targeted because he is a Dalit and whether he had no right to fly.

However, Bihar Congress spokesperson Asit Nath Tiwari accused Choudhary of trying to play the Dalit card. “Rather than the government or the officer in question putting the record straight, Choudhary has been trying to play the Dalit card. We only want the government to tell us if the officer was charged a fare for his travel or if the journey was at the expense of the poor,” he told Indian Express.

RJD MLA Sharma, who had raised the matter in the Assembly, said the opposition only wants to know how an IAS officer can afford a journey by a chartered plane.

Who is Nilesh Ramchandra Deore?

Deore, a 2011-batch IAS officer of the Bihar cadre, is originally from Nashik in Maharashtra. His father served as an officer in the agriculture department. Before entering the civil services, Deore completed his MBBS from a private medical college in Navi Mumbai and later cleared the UPSC examination.

According to IE, he has served as District Magistrate in Madhubani, Banka, Chapra, and Bettiah. In September 2022, he was named the private secretary to Union Minister of Civil Aviation and Steel, Jyotiraditya Scindia. Subsequently, he returned to Bihar.