Each visit of PM abroad costed more than Rs 10 crores to the nation
9 Jun, 2013The Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) had issued instructions for pro-active disclosure of Tours of ministers and officials - http://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/dopt-directs-pro-active-disclosure-tours-ministers-2272 As per Section 4 of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, there is a certain set of information which every public authority is expected to disclose on its own without waiting for an applicant to file an applicantion.
Taking a cue, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has provided the details of the travels made by the PM Manmohan Singh ever since he took over the office in 2004. Of the 67 visits made by him, the expense incurred on air travel on each of the 62 visits has been provided while the calculations are said to be under progress for the rest. The figures show that Rs. 642 crore has been spent on his foreign air travel during 62 visits whcih implies more than Rs 10 Crore on a visit. The most expensive trip was to Mexico-Brazil in June 2012 which costed Rs. 26.94 Crore while the least expensive was to Dhaka in November 2005 which costed Rs. 3.07 Crore. The expenses incurred by the embassy do not seem to have been included in it.
The PM uses a Business Boeing Jet of the Indian Air Force during his foreign visits. He had participated in various meetings like the G-20 Summit, UN Conference on Sustainable Development, 63rd Session of the UN General Assembly, India-European Union Summit, Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit, Nuclear Security Summit, IBSA and BRIC Summits apart from bilateral discussions with heads of nations. In terms of destinations, maximum visits were made to the US (8), followed by France and the United Kingdom (4 each).
Hopefully, the other ministers and officials would follow suit.