CM’s Rs 1.5-cr US junket strains state resources further

Alarmed by a massive resource crunch, Vilasrao Deshmukh had asked officials of the finance and planning departments to take immediate steps to curb non-planned expenditure. Then Deshmukh had imposed a ban on holding meetings to review kharif and rabi crop output, also a ban on the transfer of employees and a complete ban on recruitments.

The travel expenditure for Chief Secretary Arun Bongirwar, Principal Secretary Johny Joseph, Industries Secretary Vinay Bansal and Joint Secretary Praveensinh Pardesh who are also accompanying the chief minister will be met from the general services account, while the cash-strapped Maharashtra State Electricity Board will bear the cost for its chairman Yeshwant Bhave and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation will bear the cost for its Chief Executive Officer Jayant Kawale.

Though the main aim of the chief minister’s tour is to attract foreign investments, particularly in the sector of information technology, Director of Information Technology Vijay Kumar Gautam was not taken along.

While the official order promulgated by the Industries Department on the travel plan and expenses thereof on June 19 is completely silent on the actual expenditure likely to be incurred by the delegation, leader of opposition Narayan Rane has estimated the cost at Rs 1.50 crore. “It was unfortunate that Vilasrao Deshmukh chose to embark on a foreign tour, when the government is facing an unprecedented financial crisis. I am not saying that the government is in crisis, Deshmukh has himself stated on number of occasions that there are no funds with the government,” Rane said.

Launching a frontal attack on the Congress-led Democratic Front government, Rane said it has stopped payment to Ashram Schools, provident fund to its employees, delayed the payment of travel expenses to senior officials as well as cabinet members. “Under such circumstances, Deshmukh owes an explanation to the people of Maharashtra for his foreign tour. Besides the Chief Minister, atleast 10 other cabinet members are also on the foreign tour,” Rane added.

The former Chief Minister said in this age of information technology, there was no reason for Vilasrao Deshmukh to remain out of Maharashtra for more than two weeks. “What shocked me is that though his tour is to attract investment in information technology, he is not accompanied by a single expert from the field,” Rane added.

BJP General Secretary Eknath Khadse also criticised the Chief Minister for his foreign tour, saying, at a juncture when the government is facing an acute resource crunch, there was absolutely no justification for the tour. “Our financial situation is very weak. The response to our bonds is very poor. Under such circumstances, I am surprised how the Chief Minister embarked upon the foreign tour,” he pointed out.

Khadse also had a dig at the foreign tour led by Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar. Though it has been stated that the entire trip of the delegation led by Pawar has been sponsored by the Vasantdada Sugar Research Institute and cooperative sugar factories, it is also funded by the government, he remarked.

During his visit to USA and UK, Deshmukh will present to foreign investors the policy initiatives taken by his government in the information technology sector. On the expenditure side, the official order states that US $ 10,000 has been sanctioned for organising receptions and meetings with investors and entrepreneurs, while each one of the delegation has been sanctioned US $ 750 for personal expenses. While Vilasrao Deshmukh, Patangrao Kadam, Jaidatta Kshirsagar and Arun Bongirwar will travel by first class, the other bureaucrats will tavel by business class.