GO CORRESPONDENT

While the global economy is in recession, it is shocking to note that the government is spending crores of rupees on foreign junkets.

ON JULY 24, the Chief Minister, Digamber Kamat, presented the Additional Budget 09, and the aam aadmi aur aurat were hit by one more tax on their fixed monthly income of Rs.10,000 and above, which affected mostly the sons of the soil who already pay income tax. Our Chief Minister proclaims he was compelled to levy the tax in a bid to generate much needed revenue for the state and to meet the shortfalls of the recession which has affected Goa too.

Against the gloomy background painted by the CM of the status of the State Exchequer, our MLAs still demand accommodation on their ‘official visits’ outside the state. From June 2007 to March 2008 they stayed at starred hotels like Ashoka, Taj Palace, Radisson, Le Meridien, Claridges or Sangrila on official duty. The Chief Minister, who claims to lead by example, spent Rs. 1,706,65 for four days at the Ashoka, one day at the Taj Palace (November 4, 2007) and three days at the Le Meridien in the last ten months. Churchill Alemao, PWD MLA, cost the State Exchequer Rs.1,36,661 for five days at the Ashoka, one day at Claridges and one day at the Sangrila. Eduardo Faleiro, NRI Commissioner, incurred a whopping expense of Rs.3,11,832 for a 19-day stay at the Ashoka and another Rs. 91,042 for a four-day stay at Le Meridien from October 19-22, 08. Our MLAs refuse to reside at the Goa Sadan, New Delhi, which is specially built for them and other government officials when in Delhi.

GOA SADAN

IN fact, in the last two years, Goa Sadan has incurred huge expenses for providing accommodation to VIPs living outside the Goa Sadan, defeating the purpose for what it was meant. From June 2007 to March 2008, the VIP accommodation expense was Rs. 5,49,683 and the expense for the period April 2008 to March 2009 rose to Rs.12,41,964. For the remaining four months, from April-June 2009, the accommodation expense touched Rs.1,35,778. Bureaucrats and government officials consider Goa Sadan too lowly for them and therefore demand to be accommodated outside it, in spite of its well furnished air-conditioned rooms and restaurant.

The total expenditure incurred on VIPs’ accommodation in Goa for the last two years from June 2007 till June 2009 is Rs. 41,10,846. The common man wants to know that when he is struggling to meet his grocery bills every day and month, why the government should not exercise some austerity in living standards. Every city or town in Goa has a government-run residency hotel which is well equipped with material comforts like A/Cs and room service including an excellent restaurant within the building. But, the favourite starred hotels for VIP accommodation when in Goa, are Cidade de Goa, La Paz Garden, Goa Marriott, The Mandovi, Fort Aguada Beach Resort, The Majestic, Park Hyatt, Bogmalo Beach Resort, Fidalgo and Leela Palace Beach Resort. In fact, Cidade de Goa was the largest beneficiary of our government’s largesse and of the total amount of Rs.41,10,846 spent by the government on VIP accommodation, Cidade de Goa grabbed the lion’s share - a massive Rs. 22,595,53 (approximately) in the last two years. Cidade de Goa is clearly the government’s favourite hotel for providing accommodating to VIP invitees to Goa. Ashok Nigam, Additional Solicitor General of India, stayed at the Cidade de Goa for eight days on a non-official visit and the government was handed a bill of Rs. 2,27,537. Anil Deshmukh, Minister for PWD, Maharashtra, stayed officially at the Cidade de Goa for four days and the government was sent another whopping bill of Rs. 1,73,250. The irony of the matter is that the common man, who just manages to make ends meet, has no idea that his taxes are being squandered to maintain the MLAs and their VIP guests in royal style, both outside and inside the state.

WASTEFUL EXPENSE

FRANCIS D’Souza, BJP MLA of Mapusa, told Goan Observer that providing accommodation for MLAs and government officials and visiting VIPs in starred hotels outside and inside the state is “wasteful expenditure on the part of the government. In fact, the government should tighten its belt, particularly because of the recession and drought conditions in the country. Ministers and government officials should show the way because good example comes from the top in moments of crisis.” He points out that “Digamber Kamat says he leads by example but stays at the best hotels, the Ashoka and Le Meridien where a VIP suite is reserved for the governor and chief minister.” He relates the incident when an All Party Delegation went to Delhi to meet the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh in January 2009 and he represented the Bharatiya Janata Party. “All the ministers rushed for five star accommodation and Dilip Naik and I were given the smallest room in the Goa Sadan, New Delhi. The point is, when we go as a delegation, all the delegates should be treated alike, even though I would have declined a five-star accommodation.” His blunt opinion is, “The government can save crores of rupees by reducing useless spending.”

The Tourism Ministry has undertaken the most trips abroad apparently, on the pretext of boosting tourism in our state though, on the ground, neither is there a rise in the number of high-end tourists to the state nor has the quality of tourism infrastructure improved greatly in the last two decades. Francisco Pacheco, Minister of Tourism & Housing, travelled to London for eight days and New York for three days at the cost of Rs. 6,66,875 and Rs. 1,84,454 respectively. Dr. M. sixModdasir, Secretary, Tourism has had sojourns in Dubai ( days), London (13 days), Hong Kong-Beijing-Shanghai (eight days), Zurich-Madrid-Banages-Frankfurt (eight days), Shanghai (seven days), Dubai-London (five days) and the net expenditure of the sojourns, of a single individual, cost the Exchequer Rs.7,95,657 in two years! Goans are waiting for an explanation from the government, in whose name they govern the state, for the official purpose of Dr. Moddasir’s visits to so many countries in the course of two years and the positive results his visits abroad have had on the hospitality industry in Goa.

Other persons of the Directorate of Tourism and GTDC, who have been on foreign junkets, are Arvind Loliyenkar, Director of Tourism (New York), Pamela Mascarenhas Deputy Director, (Berlin-Lisbon-Berlin-Lisbon), Elvis Gomes, Director of Tourism (Lisbon-Dubai-UAE-Moscow-London), Anthony J. D’Souza OSD (Lisbon-Madrid), V.G.S. Navelkar, Asst. Director (Lisbon), J.N. Sangodkar, Asst. Dir. (Berlin), Hanumant Parsenkar, Dy. Director (Kazakhistan), Swapnil M. Naik Director Tourism (Berlin), Sanjit Rodrigues, Managing Director, GTDC (Sri Lanka) and Shyam Satardekar, Chairman, GTDC (London). And the combined travel bill, including Francisco Pacheco’s and Dr. Moddasir’s travel expenses, is a colossal sum of Rs.37,73,195 from the grand total of Rs.2,12,17,670.

NRI CELL

YET another department with officers frequent travelling overseas is the NRI Cell, beginning with the NRI Commissioner Eduardo Faleiro who, besides staying in five star hotels in India, travelled to Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Bahrain and Canada. U.D. Kamat, director of NRI Affairs, travelled to Portugal via Frankfurt, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Bahrain, Mozambique, Kenya and Canada. The Adm. John C. de Silva (Retd.) chairman, Overseas Employment Agency of Goa travelled to Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, UAE and Bahrain. The collective two-year travel bill of the NRI Cell is Rs. 38,00,176.

U.D. Kamat told Goan Observer that the Assembly list does not indicate the purpose of the visits made by the members of the NRI Cell and enumerated, “I went to Lisbon to attend the Convention of Goan Diaspora from Goa to the world. Eduardo Faleiro, Adm. John de Silva and I went together to Kuwait and Qatar in November 2007 to meet Goan expatriates, identify their grievances and attend to other issues affecting them and study the labour market in Kuwait and Qatar. Again, all three of us went to Oman, UAE and Bahrain in December 2007 for the same purpose. Then, in May 2008, Eduardo Faleiro and I went to Mozambique and Kenya to interact with Goans as well as Indian communities in both these countries and discuss matters concerning them with the respective government authorities in those countries. And, finally, in the month of July 2008 Faleiro and I went to Toronto, Canada to attend the International Goan Convention held from July 3-27 2008.”

From the manner in which our leaders have been living the good life at the tax payers’ cost, it is obvious that they see politics merely as a means to a ‘rich’ end.