*Fernandes was real economy traveller by Ramamohan Rao* *M*UCH has been written about the directions by the Government of India to the ministers and Congress members of Parliament to travel economy class during their tour within the country or abroad. Much also has been made about the ‘directions’ communicated to Minister of External Affairs S.M. Krishna and Minister of State Shashi Tharoor to shift from their rooms in five-star hotels even though they were paying for the rental personally.
A Cabinet minister who refused to travel first class out of conviction was George Fernandes, the former Defence Minister. I witnessed it as an Information Consultant in the Defence Ministry. In fact, it caused me some embarrassment as I was booked in the Indian Airlines flight in the first class which was my entitlement and to my surprise I saw Defence Minister George Fernandes travelling in the economy class from Delhi to Mumbai. I quietly went to a person travelling in the economy class to take my seat in the first class and travelled in the economy class. Later, whenever I travelled with George Fernandes, I took care to ensure that my booking was done in the economy class. Last week, I heard Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari saying that he was ready to travel even in the cargo compartment. I recalled that I had to travel in the cargo compartment of a IL-76 of the Indian Air Force from Guwahati to Delhi in 2004 along with George Fernandes. The plane was not pressurised and not one word could be heard by me during the two-hour long flight though I was in the bucket seat along with the Defence Minister. George Fernandes had visited Tawang a day earlier, saw a monastery and a war memorial there, did a survey of the posts keeping watch on the Chinese border. On return when we were told that the Indian Airlines flight was cancelled, he chose to travel by the IL76 cargo aircraft, which was on a routine flight, as he had to proceed on an engagement from Delhi. Incidentally, during his period as Defence Minister, George Fernandes chose to visit the Siachen Glacier to see how the jawans were living there. When he saw that they were not adequately clothed as there were some ‘budgetary problems’, he told the Defence Ministry that the officers concerned should pay a visit to the outposts in Siachen. In no time, the jawans got their clothes and snowmobiles in Siachen. From then onwards George Fernandes visited Siachen every three months, as the turnover period there used to be three months and he wanted to meet every contingent doing a tenure of duty there. He had visited Siachen 18 times as the Defence Minister. He insisted on personally going through the conditions in which the soldiers, sailors and airmen lived and worked. He travelled in a Light Combat Aircraft developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) after subjecting himself to the physical tests that every pilot has to pass through. It is also not the first time that Cabinet ministers have been staying in five-star hotels. I recall a former Prime Minister booking scores of rooms in the Maurya to accommodate his family who had come along with him when he was sworn in. They stayed there for weeks and special food was prepared for them to ensure that they felt at home. One recalls the days when Jawaharlal Nehru as the Prime Minister had an office in South Block with two personal secretaries who took all the dictations and maintained his office. Today, the number of personal secretaries working for a Cabinet minister is around a score, leave alone the Prime Minister’s Office. *— ANI* *The writer is a former Principal Information Officer* *Now read this news! http://www.deccanhe rald.com/ content/25262/ sonias-economy- flight-city. html<http://www.deccanherald.com/content/25262/sonias-economy-flight-city.html> * * Sonia’s economy flight to CityBangalore: True to her words, Congress President Sonia Gandhi flew economy class to Bangalore from Mumbai on Monday evening in a private commercial airliner. (Saving? Rs 7000 ; but cost of transporting 3 bullet proof cars? Rs 1 Lakh each!My information, hope it is correct! ) According to party sources, a special chartered flight booked earlier for her visit to Bangalore, was cancelled as a part of the austerity measure announced by the Congress party for its leaders and ministers. She was received at the Bengaluru International Airport by a contingent of State unit of party leaders. The Congress president later proceeded to halt at Raj Bhavan. She will be reaching Mysore on Tuesday morning via a chartered helicopter (Emphasis mine! All of us are aware it costs 80,000 or so per hour to charter a Heptr! and distance BLR MYSORE 140 KM on a beautiful road by BMIC !) to inaugurate the second-unit of Global Education Centre (GEC), established by Infosys Technologies Ltd. A delegation of the Congress leaders are planning to meet her at HAL airport before she departs to Mysore. Congress leaders R V Desphande, Siddaramaiah, D K Shivakumar, V S Ugrappa, H T Sangliana and K J George among others received Sonia Gandhi at the airport on Monday. ============ ========= ========= === Now, did you see how many TV crews were there to see off the Prince at NDLS? He travelled by Shatabdi , saving Rs 415! ============ ========= ========= ======= WHAT AN IDEA SIR,JI! Still you will find the fawning sycophants: Sardesai, P Roy and B Dutt having another discussion to show the Empress in good light! w/o mentioning the cost of heptr ride, even assuming it was paid by INFOSYS, which one doesn't know! ***
