Team Herald
PANJIM: The recent ‘official’ tour of Goa Tourism officials to United States of America (USA) has been caught in a controversy with the Opposition suspecting irregularity like many other international trips.
The Congress party has sought clarity from the government about the tour and recovery of expenditure from every member of the delegation.
“Public money is being misused in the name of promoting Goa globally. One delegation is presently in the US and we need to know the names of the members in the delegation, criteria on basis of which the members were chosen for the trip, purpose of the visit, expenditure incurred and the revenue Goa will earn,” Congress spokesperson Amarnath Panjikar said at a press briefing on Sunday.
The party has raised strong doubts that the delegation led by Tourism Minister Manohar Azgaonkar also comprises of junior officials, two officials from ESI and Excise; and family members of some others; all of whom are not concerned with the official tour.
“We are given to understand that besides officials, who are concerned with the international trip, there are others, who are accommodated at the cost of public money. This is totally illegal. We demand the government to recover money from every person, who is a part of this delegation,” he said.
“Such misuse of power by the ministers is precisely the reason we are demanding a Chief Minister in Goa. In absence of present CM (Manohar Parrikar), nothing is in order,” he alleged.
Meanwhile, the party has decided to launch ‘Jana Gana Mana’ – a social initiative to understand the problems of the general public and place it before the government.
Siddhanath Buyao, also party spokesman said their leaders will communicate with the ‘people in a bus or a rickshaw, taxi, motorcycle, ferry or anywhere on the street’ to know the problems they are facing. “All their grievances will then be forwarded to the government,” he said adding the exercise will begin on May 22.
