In identical letters written earlier this week to 23 Chief Ministers and 19 Union Ministers, Fernandes has stated that should the IAF's outstanding dues remain unsettled by September 15, use of IAF planes by the defaulting Departments would be discontinued from the following day, that is September 16.

A calculation done by the MoD showed that arrears for airlifts made by Chief Ministers and Ministers had been piling up over the years. Till May this year the defaulting Departments and States owed the MoD approximately Rs 65 crore. Of this, the outstanding amount due from the State Governments was Rs 46.66 crore and that from various Ministries was Rs 18.30 crore.

In his letter to the Ministers and Chief Ministers, Fernandes has stated that the ``huge'' outstanding dues had been adversely commented upon ``year afteryear'' by the Comptroller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA) and the Comptroller and Auditor General (GAG). Despite that, the bills had remained unpaid.

The Defence Minister's letter, under despatch to the defaulting Union Ministers and Chief Ministers states, ``to overcome the problem, it has been decided to discontinue air-support to all the defaulting agencies with effect from September 15, 1998. From September 16, 1998 onwards, air support to your Ministry/State will be provided by the IAF only after payment of all outstanding airlift bills.''

MoD officials pointed out that while Parliament had recently been informed about the dues listed against former prime ministers and defence ministers, it is for the first time that chief ministers and ministers had been included as part of the MoD's collection drive. The list of outstanding dues compiled by the MoD shows that Arunachal Pradesh had the highest pending bill (Rs 17.7 crore) followed by Jammu & Kashmir (Rs 7.80 crore), Bihar (Rs 5.74 crore), AndhraPradesh (Rs 3.62 crore) and Himachal Pradesh (Rs 2.57 crore).

In the case of the Union ministries, the MoD's tabulation shows the Ministry of Information of Broadcasting as having the highest pending bill (Rs 10.69 crore) followed by the Ministry of External Affairs (Rs 5.01 crore), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (Rs 62.42 lakh) and Ministry of Steel and Mines (Rs 33.60 lakh). The Finance Minister, incidentally, will also be receiving the defence minister's missive, though the outstanding amount due from his ministry for use of IAF planes is a mere Rs 27,260.