TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The travel agent who arranged the trip of a minister and an MLA to USA and Netherlands is yet to submit the bill for the expenses, even as Tuesday is the last day of the financial year. The expenses include dinners, travel, hospitality, fuel and other expenses.
The matter that came up in the assembly revealed that the government spent a total of Rs 6.20 crore on two foreign trips of two ministers and four BJP MLAs.
The six people’s representatives traveled to nearly 20 countries in November 2014 and February 2015, to promote tourism in the State.
Between 2013 and February 2015, Rs 6.20 crore from the public treasury was spent on foreign tours of ministers Dilip Parulekar (Tourism) and Mahadev Naik (Industries), and four BJP MLAs.
Almost half the amount – Rs 3.36 crore – was spent on foreign visits of the Tourism minister who traveled to Dubai, Edinburgh, Leeds, UK, Los Angeles, New York, Istanbul and Turkey.
As per the information tabled on the floor of the House, Parulekar, deputy speaker Anant Shet, MLA and Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) Chairman Nilesh Cabral, MLA and Chairman of Goa Industries Development Corporation (GIDC) Ganesh Gaonkar and MLA Subhash Naik, attended various tourism promotion events across the globe, which
include World Travel Mart (WTM) and road shows in 20 countries.
