In 2010 Goa’s Chief Secretary Mr. Sanjay Srivastava made 27 official trips within India and two trips overseas. This has been revealed in the information under the Right to Information Act by the Chief Secretary’s office. The information has revealed that a total of Rs 5, 91,099 was spent on the 27 trips made by the Chief Secretary within India while an expenditure of Rs 2, 56,728 was incurred on the two trips overseas.
The Chief Secretary’s trips within India include 22 to Delhi, 2 to Mumbai, 2 to Hyderabad and one to Udaipur. The two foreign trips were a 13 day trip to Korea and the other a 7 day one to Spain. The only unofficial trip made by the Chief Secretary Mr. Sanjay Srivastava in 2010 was to Varanasi under the Leave Travel Concession and cost Rs 39,962. One wonders as to why the Chief Secretary had to travel so frequently given that we are in an age where issues could be sorted out through video conferencing and other electronic means. Such frequent traveling and extravagant expenditure is also contrary to the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s directive that there should be an austerity and restraint in official travels by Ministers and officers. While the Chief Secretary has been a frequent flier Goa’s Aam Aadmi has been suffering as the local administration lacked direction and has become dysfunctional. Aires Rodrigues T1 - B30, Ribandar Retreat Ribandar - Goa - 403006 Mobile: 9822684372
