The Goa Government has spent a whopping Rs 3, 31, 47,262 (3 crores 31 lakhs 47 thousand 262 rupees) on NRI Commissioner Mr. Eduardo Faleiro and his office from the date of his appointment on 23rd Feb 2006 to date. This has been revealed in the information furnished by the Home Department under the Right to Information Act.
While Rs 28, 93,260 was squandered on foreign jaunts, the travelling within India has cost the tax payer Rs 13,53,342. The travelling within India includes Mr. Eduardo Faleiro’s 19 trips to Delhi and 8 trips to Mumbai. By way of salaries the NRI office spent Rs 67,63,055 while it dished out Rs 30,00,000 by way of grant in aid. On advertisements released in various news papers Rs 17,72,313 was spent. So called Professional services has cost us a further Rs 1,65,717 Kerala-based Centre for Development Studies (CDS) was paid Rs twenty lakhs for conducting the Goa Migration Study in 2008. We need to question the utility and wisdom of having spent Rs 20 lakhs on this unproductive study. The office expenses of the NRI Commissioner totalling to Rs 11,25,814 is surprising as there is no rent to be paid as the office is located at the Secretariat at Porvorim. By way of other expenses Rs 1, 60, 37,914 was also spent. The NRI Commissioner’s office in spite of being very unproductive has even claimed overtime allowances of Rs 35,937/- Goa is the only state having an NRI commissioner with cabinet status. Kerala, Gujarat and Punjab have a much larger population of NRIs and have been much more successful in resolving NRI issues on a very modest budget. Mr. Eduardo Faleiro has misused the position which was created to accommodate him with cabinet status on his retirement from active politics. Mr. Eduardo Faleiro and his NRI cell have unnecessarily been splurging money left and right on foreign jaunts and other wasteful expenditure. The astronomical amounts being spent on Advocate General Mr. Subodh Kantak and NRI Commissioner Mr. Eduardo Faleiro is a criminal waste of public funds and only proves the lack of financial accountability and transparency in the State Administration. It is time Mr. Eduardo Faleiro is sacked and the NRI cell restructured by incorporating a combination of salient features of the Kerala, Punjab and Gujarat NRI cells. Aires Rodrigues T1 - B30, Ribandar Retreat Ribandar - Goa - 403006 Mobile: 9822684372
