129 private foreign trips by C’garh IAS officers

Richa Sharma, a 1994 batch IAS officer, visited Dubai 24 times between January 2015 and October 2019.

 

NEW DELHI: Sixty-three bureaucrats of Chhattisgarh have gone on 129 private foreign tours between January 2015 and October 2019.

This information came to light after Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel gave a written reply to a question asked by former Chief Minister Raman Singh in the state Assembly on 2 December.

As per the response shared by Baghel, 1994 batch IAS officer Richa Sharma visited Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), a whopping 24 times during the said time period. Of the 24 times she visited Dubai, eight times were in 2016 and seven times in 2017.

Giving a break-up of the private foreign tours undertaken by the public servants, Baghel, in his reply, stated that in 2015, 19 officers went on 21 tours, 14 officers went on 23 tours in 2016, 24 officers went on 31 tours in 2017, 23 officers took 29 foreign tours in 2018 and 20 officers had gone on 25 foreign tours till October 2019.

After Dubai, the other preferred places of these bureaucrats, as per the information shared by Baghel, was United States of America (18 times), Bangkok, Thailand (12 times), United Kingdom (seven times), Singapore (seven times) and Switzerland (five times).

As per the guidelines issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the cadre controlling body of the IAS officers, before going on a foreign tour, the officers have to declare the period of travel, names of foreign countries to be visited, purpose of the visit, estimated expenditure, source of funds and details of private foreign travel undertaken during the last four years.

While allowing the tour, the cadre controller has to keep in mind whether the officer is handling large amounts of government cash or is dealing with secret matters or whether any case involving serious charges against the officer is under investigation and whether any disciplinary proceeding is pending against the officers concerned or not.