Abolish practice of study and goodwill trips

05 September, 2012

It is significant to note that parliamentarians and state-legislators cutting across party-lines enjoy the luxury of the so-called 'study-trips at government expense.

RECENTLY, THE blunt exposure of a ‘study-trip’ by Karnatak MLAs, deemed as a 'pleasure trip', has emerged as a trend prevalent in all such study trips made by those in legislatures and by parliamentarians.

Even parliamentarian Rajesh Manjhi was once caught having taken his girl friend on an official trip in the name of his wife. RTI response reveals that the present Lok Sabha Speaker has been spending most of time on foreign tours when Lok Sabha is not in session. Many politicians have enjoyed ‘study trips’ with their spouses before the infamous Commonwealth Games 2010.

Significantly, most of the time, no study report is submitted after completion of such study trips. Even if the study report is submitted, it is prepared by bureaucrats rather than the legislators who enjoyed the luxury of the study trip.

Even Pratibha Patil’s ‘goodwill’ trips during her tenure as President of India proved to be pleasure family trips where she enjoyed the company of her family members, relations and friends in super-luxury trips at the cost of the public exchequer.

The system of study and goodwill trips should be restricted even in the case of President of India by allowing these only on a green signal by the Comptroller & General of India (CAG). Any one found guilty of taking such study trips as 'luxury trips' should be made to pay double the cost as penalty, and should not be allowed to go oon any such trip in the future at public expense.