Team Herald
PANJIM: Tourism Minister Manohar Azgaonkar broke his silence regarding allegations of misusing State finances during his trip to US for a road show.
His reaction comes in response to charges made by the Congress that the minister’s family had accompanied an official tourism delegation to the US at the cost of the State. Azgaonkar admitted that some of his family members did accompany him but at their own expense.
A statement issued by Tourism Department’s PR agency said, “Participation at international trade fairs and organising of international roadshows is one of the primary functions of Tourism Department in promotion of Goa Tourism internationally and that he is firmly committed on improving the tourism sector in Goa and efforts are on to bring in quality tourists to the State from niche markets.”
Azgaonkar also stated that road shows across the world are being held for many years including during the Congress regime.
The recent Goa Tourism road shows in USA had the minister leading the official delegation that included GTDC Chairman Nilesh Cabral, Chief Secretary Dharmendra Sharma and Deputy Director (Tourism) Rajesh Kale. Congress had alleged that persons not involved with tourism were part of the delegation besides family members of the minister.
