1. SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 N INDIA TODAY 39
BABUS’FLIGHTSOF
1,576 officials of
4466 CCeennttrraall
mmiinniissttrriieess
have travelled
55,,6655,,6622,,442266
kkiilloommeettrreess,,
W
hen Prime Minister Manmohan
Singhrecentlywrotetohiscabinet
ministers, asking them to curtail
their expenses on air travel and
undertakeforeigntripsonlywhen
deemed “absolutely necessary”, it was
widely dismissed as an exercise in futility.
After all, such steps in the past have not ex-
actly produced the desired results. Indeed,
a look at the volume of the babu traffic to
overseas destinations suggests that the
primeminister’slamentamountstohowling
after the horses have bolted the stable.
Following an investigation on
frequent fliers in the UPA Government in
Februarythisyear,INDIA TODAY filedseparate
Right to Information (RTI) applications to
every Union ministry except the Ministry of
External Affairs (MEA) on February 28 this
year, seeking details of foreign visits made
byofficialsoftherankofdirectorandabove.
INDIA TODAY has received the information in
1,297 pages. The details of trips related to
trainings of over one month have been ex-
cluded.Theinformationgatheredisaresult
of over 80 applications, clarifications, ap-
peals and reminders. Despite these efforts,
the ministries of Railways, Earth Sciences
and the Department of Personnel and
Training are yet to give a final reply. Also,
the designations and postings of a few
officials may not be the latest as they may
have been transferred or would have
retired by now.
The information throws light on the fact
that 1,576 officials of the rank of director
and above have travelled more than 5.65
crore km and stayed 24,458 days abroad
over the past 40 months (from January 1,
2005 to April 30, 2008). While details about
the total expenses incurred were not made
available, information received from 45 of
the 50 Central ministries (including two de-
partments:atomicenergyandspace)shows
that officials from these ministries spent
more than Rs 56.38 crore on globetrotting.
In a few cases, costs include expenses in-
curred on delegates or companions but dis-
aggregated figures were not provided.
Topping the list of frequent fliers is the
Ministry of Commerce whose 101 officials
have travelled more than 1.12 crore km,
covering 5,751 days abroad and incurring
acostofRs8.99crore.Thismileageclocked
bydirectors,jointsecretaries(JS),additional
secretaries (AS) and secretaries happens to
be more than the one clocked by ministers
from all ministries put together (1.02 crore
km) during a period of three-and-a-half
years. This may have been necessary to en-
I By Shyamlal Yadav
SAURABH SINGH
which is equivalent to
74 trips to moon and
back. They collectively
stayed abroad for
24,458 days (over 67
years) and spent over
RRss 5566,,3388,,0033,,330000
in less than three-and-a-
half years (January 1,
2005 to April 30, 2008)
on official trips.
FANCY
An INDIA TODAY
investigation shows
that despite calls
for cost cutting,
bureaucratic jaunts
continue to bleed
the exchequer
nationGLOBE-TROTTING OFFICERS

2. 40 INDIA TODAY N SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 N INDIA TODAY 41
FFiinnaannccee
EXPENSES
(in Rs)
K. SUBRAMANIAN, JS 91 24 27,45,654
POONAM DUTTA, JS 127 29 38,88,033
DAYS SPENT
ABROAD
NAME NO OF
TRIPS
OFFICIALSTRAVELLED:119 Expenses: Rs 5,42,55,183
Km:42,97,795Stayed abroad: 1,726 days
K.M. SAHNI,as SECY, LABOUR
AND EMPLOYMENT, STAYED 35
DAYS ABROAD, SPENDING
RS 39,13,810.
T.K.VISWANATHAN,
SECY, LAW, SPENT 40
DAYS ABROAD
costing RS 36,76,761.
V. SUBRAMANIAN, as
SECY, NEW AND RENEW-
ABLE ENERGY, SPENT
34 DAYS ABROAD,
spending RS 35,12,000.
able an increase in foreign trade and
bilateral treaties but even then it’s
hard to justify the magnitude of such
trips. It is not as if the babus of the
commerce department are the only
ones who are flying high. Besides
commerce, six other ministries in-
cluding Water Resources, Finance,
Home Affairs, Information and
Broadcasting, Agriculture, and
Science and Technology have earned
thedistinctionoffrequentfliers—each
of these ministries have logged 1,000
days or more of travel abroad.
I
n terms of expenditure, officials of
18 ministries have spent over
Rs 1 crore each. The number of
travellers in each ministry is sizea-
ble with at least 13 ministries having
a minimum of 50 officials who
travelled abroad. These ministries
with Defence in the lead (166) include
Home Affairs, Finance, Water Resou-
rces, Commerce, Information and
Broadcasting,Agriculture,Healthand
Family Welfare, Labour and Employ-
ment, Communications and IT, Urban
Development and Science and
Technology. However, the Ministry
of Defence did not reveal the details
of expenses incurred on the trips of
their officials.
At the other end of the spectrum
is the Ministry of Environment and
Forests where despite the global buzz
on climate change, only five officials
have travelled, 2.88 lakh km, spend-
ing Rs 43.85 lakh and staying abroad
for 111 days. Thirty five officials of
the Ministry of Textiles have travelled
more than 10 lakh km and stayed
559 days abroad spending over
Rs 1.32 crore.
All the ministries have stressed
that the trips are “purely official”. The
Ministry of Finance guidelines state,
“No officer should undertake more
than four official visits abroad a year”.
And if there is an exception, the pro-
posal is considered by the screening
committeeofsecretariesforofficialsof
every rank. Restrictions have indeed
been placed on the secretaries. For
instance, the Cabinet Secretariat circ-
ular says, “Secretaries to the Gov-
ernment of India should travel only in
the most essential circumstances and
when unavoidable.” But such guide-
lines are observed more in breach.
RAHUL KHULLAR, AS,
COMMERCE, SPENT
199 DAYS ABROAD.
Total expenses
incurred:
RS41,67,277.
G. GURUCHARAN, JS, OVERSEAS
AFFAIRS, TRAVELLED FOR 63
DAYS and SPENT Rs 23,59,413.
**SATWANT REDDY, as SECY, CHEMI-
CALS AND FERTILISERS. HE SPENT39
DAYS ABROAD, SPENDING RS 30,90,017.
MMiiccrroo,,SSmmaallllaannddMMeeddiiuummEEnntteerrpprriisseess
EXPENSES
(in Rs)
**CHANDRAPAL, SECY 50 9 31,76,736
PRAVIR KUMAR, JS 37 6 13,69,725
DAYS SPENT
ABROAD
NAME NO OF
TRIPS
OFFICIALSTRAVELLED:36 Expenses: Rs 1,25,27,031
Km:9,52,211 Stayed abroad: 400 days
AJITA BAJPAYI
PANDE, JS, MINES,
SPENT 27 DAYS
ABROAD, costing
the exchequer
RS26,29,923.
CCoommmmeerrccee
EXPENSES
(in Rs)
RENU SHARMA, DIR 178 38 35,16,995
ANTHONY DE SA, JS 178 35 38,26,131
S.N. MENON, SECY 157 37 54,05,718
**G.K. PILLAI, SECY 265 60 82,23,499
DAYS SPENT
ABROAD
NAME NO OF
TRIPS
OFFICIALSTRAVELLED:101 Expenses: Rs 8,99,15,136
Km:1,12,56,794 Stayed abroad: 5,751 days
78 officials of Health and Family Welfare
Ministry were abroad for 778888 DDAAYYSS and spent
Rs 1,55,30,022 travelling 20,62,221 km.
ANIL RAZDAN,SECY,
POWER, WAS
ABROAD FOR 27
DAYS. He spent
RS29,08,463.
P.K. Misra** who
retired as Secretary,
Agriculture, made
16 trips asSecy,
Member Secretary,
National Capital Region
Planning Board and AS,
Home Affairs. He stayed
abroad for
32 officials of Human Resource
Development Ministry travelled abroad.
Days spent: 465
Cost: Rs 1,62,89,215.
56 officers of Science and
Technology Ministry travelled
28,10,972 km, spent Rs
1,48,97,837 and stayed 1,018
days abroad.
LLLL
71 days,
spending
Rs 42,17,975.
118officials of the Ministry of Water
Resources travelled 18,86,876 km,
spending 1,530 daysat foreign
destinations incurring a total expenditure
of Rs 1,51,18,953.
**Some trips were made as AS. SECY: Secretary, Dir: Director, AS: Additional Secretary, JS:Joint Secretary
ANJALI PRASAD, as JS, AGRICUL-
TURE, SPENT Rs 25,94,983 WHILE
STAYING ABROAD FOR 71 DAYS..
** In five of eight trips, she was
accompanied by another official.
** Includes expenses of nine other delegates
in three of his trips as Secretary, Agriculture.
** This includes a trip of six member delegation which cost Rs 8.07 lakh.
nation GLOBE-TROTTING OFFICERS

3. 42 INDIA TODAY N SEPTEMBER 15, 2008
R.V. SHAHI, FORMER SECY,
POWER, SPENT 69 DAYS
ABROAD, spending
Rs 33,08,411.
Information gathered by INDIA
TODAY shows that along with S.N.
Menon (37 trips), Chandrapal (9),
T.K. Viswanathan (7), P.K. Misra
(8), V. Subramanian (10), Naresh
Dayal (6), Ranjit Issar (5), M.S.
Srinivasan (8), R.V. Shahi (15),
Radha Singh (8), T. Nanda Kumar
(6) travelled frequently as secre-
taries in the ministries of
Commerce; Small and Micro
Enterprises; Law and Justice;
Agriculture; New and Renewable
Energy; Health and Family
Welfare; Housing; and Urban
Poverty Alleviation; Petroleum
and Natural Gas; Power;
AgricultureandConsumerAffairs
respectively.
When the minister and secre-
tary of a department are required
to visit abroad, the prime minister
issupposedtobenotified.Officials
visiting foreign shores get a daily
allowance of $75 per day in cate-
gory A countries in addition to
their hotel accommodation. If the
food is provided by the Govern-
ment, the official gets only 25 per
cent of this amount. Secretary-
level officials travel first class, ad-
ditional secretaries and joint sec-
retaries are entitled to travel
business class while officials of
lower ranks are entitled to travel
by the economy class.
Approvals for foreign visits
are clearly defined. Travels of
officials up to the level of joint sec-
retary are processed in cons-
ultation with the financial adviser
of the concerned ministry while
foreign trips of officials of the level
of additional secretaries and
above are processed with the ap-
proval of the minister concerned
and the screening committee of
secretaries under the chairman-
ship of the cabinet secretary.
In addition, every government
servant is required to obtain a No
Objection Certificate from his of-
fice before acquiring a passport.
All foreign visits must be cleared
by the Ministry of External Affairs
and if required, from the Ministry
ofHomeAffairsaspertheForeign
Contribution Regulation Act
(FCRA). Even when officials go for
personal trips, they are
CCoommmmuunniiccaattiioonnssaannddIITT
EXPENSES
(in Rs)
PANKAJ AGGARWAL, JS 105 19 43,06,048
M.M. NAMBIAR, SECY 89 20 45,60,005
DAYS SPENT
ABROAD
NAME NO OF
TRIPS
OFFICIALSTRAVELLED:57 Expenses: Rs 2,71,24,538
Km:25,21,696Stayed abroad: 863 days
S.K. ARORA, as SECY, INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING,
SPENT 22 DAYS ABROAD. Total Cost: RS 31,96,590.
V.K. THAKRAL, JS, MINES, WAS
OVERSEAS FOR 1188 DAYS and
spent Rs 26,69,663.
50 officials of Urban Development Ministry
stayed 665566 DDAAYYSS overseas, spending
Rs 55,00,343 while travelling 13,00,296 km.
were overseas
for 438 days.
They travelled
12,09,818 km
costing the
exchequer
Rs 50,23,422.
48 officials of Statistics
and Programme
Implementation
SURYA P. SETHI, PRINCIPAL
ADVISER, PLANNING, STAYED
114422 DAYS ABROAD and
spent RS 30,45,944.
RAJKUMAR
nation GLOBE-TROTTING OFFICERS

4. nation GLOBE-TROTTING OFFICERS
A.K. MISHRA, FORMER SECY,
TOURISM, STAYED 58 DAYS
ABROAD and spent
RS 32,78,520.
required to seek approval from
the concerned departments.
Normally, the decision on a
trip is taken much earlier and the
paperworkstartsonlylater.Inthe
Steel Ministry, there are more
startling revelations. Apparently,
when delegations like those from
the National Mineral Develop-
ment Corporation propose visits
abroad for price negotiations, the
officials of the ministry success-
fully lobby in getting themselves
included in the delegation.
Similarly, many ministry officials
manage foreign trips while sanc-
tioning grants through academic
institutions which pursue
research projects abroad.
A large number of foreign vis-
its are sponsored by international
agencies like the United Nations.
Generally, officials below the rank
of a director are asked to go for
such trips. The question is how
useful these visits are and their
efficacy in improving governance.
Unfortunately, there is no study
nor is there an attempt at doing a
cost benefit analysis. There is also
the issue of wastage of the num-
berofhoursastheofficialsareout
of office and files pile up. Many
foreign visits can be curtailed by
nominating representatives from
our embassies.
There is also no attempt to
curbthebandwagoneffectandcut
the number of officials on a dele-
gation. There is also the debate on
the thin line between official and
personal visits. When the min-
istries were asked to reveal the
number of personal visits that
their officials had made, most of
them refrained from doing so on
grounds that this was exempt
under RTI. Ministries like Law, Po-
wer, New and Renewable Energy,
Mines and Tourism provided de-
tails of personal visits.
According to the information
made available to INDIA TODAY, 159
officials of 20 ministries have trav-
elled29.80lakhkmabroad,cover-
ing 4,480 days on personal
visits, but in most cases, the
expensesweren’tdisclosed.
Interestingly, officials re-
veal that many officers have
made personal trips on mileage
accumulated from official trips.
The time spent abroad by the offi-
cials of the Mines Ministry on per-
sonal visits is three times the time
they spent on official visits.
S
uch disclosures apart, it’s
accepted that officials travel
abroad quite often to collect
frequent flier mileage
points, given by airline operators,
so that these can be redeemed for
personaltours.EventheSixthPay
Commission, headed by Justice
B.N. Srikrishna, did not mince
words when it stated that, “There
is an increasing tendency on the
part of Government officials to
travel by air in order to gain
mileage points which are then
used by them for private travel.”
The Commission was of the
view that official tours cannot be
made a source of profit. Accord-
ingly, it recommended that all
mileage points earned by gover-
nment employees on tickets pur-
chasedforofficialtravelshouldbe
utilised by the concerned depart-
ment for official travel itself. Any
usage of these mileage points for
privatetravelbyanofficial,itsaid,
should be duly acted upon.
According to an estimate, the-
re are many official visits that are
avoidable and the Centre could
have saved roughly Rs 25 crore if
the Government, the concerned
ministries and departments had
shown some restraint in sanction-
ing these trips.
Morepublicmoneycouldhave
been saved if the frequent flier
mileage points earned by officers
were used for official purposes.
With the ministers concerned
being the final authorities, they
bear the responsibility for the
travels of their subordinates. It is
time they swung into serious cor-
rective action. The coalition of
babus and mantris seem to gel
wellwhenitcomestoforeigntrav-
els. The issue is not money alone
but neglect of important tasks at
home that officers are assigned.
Nine officials of
Ministry of Planning
stayed abroad
for 226 days,
blowing up
Rs 56,22,968.
They travelled
5,93,712 km.
MEENA GUPTA, as SECY,
ENVIRONMENT AND FOREST,
STAYED 39 DAYS ABROAD
and spent Rs 22,01,534.
For more information, log on to
HEMANT CHAWLA
AJAY PRASAD,
as SECY, CIVIL AVIATION,
SPENT 76 DAYS
ABROAD, spending
RS 41,73,346.