PRESIDENT PRATIBHA PATIL HAS BEEN TRAVELLING OVERBOARD
By Aires Rodrigues
Besides her foreign trips the President of India Pratibha Patil has been also recklessly traveling across the country too.
Last year President Patil was on a four day fiesta in Goa. It was first projected that it was a private visit but it was later revealed under the RTI Act that it was shown as an official one. Though President Patil was on a private holiday to Goa her visit was sought to be shown as official so that the expenditure could be charged to the State exchequer. If the trip was official the authorities should have explained the purpose of that four day trip.
A total expenditure of Rs 14, 18, 772 was incurred by the Goa Government on that President Pratibha Patil’s holiday in Goa. President Pratibha Patil was accompanied on that trip to Goa by her husband Dr. Devisingh Shekhawat, her daughter Jyoti Rathore, grand daughter Vedika Rathore and a total of 36 personal staff.
While President Pratibha Patil parked herself at Goa Raj Bhavan, a whopping Rs 3, 20,250 was spent on the lodging and boarding expenses at a five star resort Cidade de Goa for the members of the President’s entourage, and a further amount of Rs 1, 29,915 was spent on the lodging and boarding of some others in her troupe housed at the International centre at Dona Paula. A total of Rs 6, 23,188 was spent on vehicles hired by the Goa Tourism Development Corporation to be used for the President’s entourage. Rs 2, 01,220 was spent for the lunch on a day trip by the President Pratibha Patil at Taj Exotica in Benaulim. Another lunch hosted by the Chief Minister at Cidade de Goa in honour of President Patil cost the exchequer Rs 1, 19,999. While Rs 20,000 was spent on the boat ride, Para sailing and Jet Ski organized for President Patil at Benaulim beach, flowers presented to her cost the tax payer Rs 4,400
Such unnecessary trips and extravagant expenditure should stop. Besides being a very unjust burden on the State exchequer it is also an inconvenience to the public at large because of traffic jams caused by such visits. In a country where poverty is wide spread and the prevalence of child under nutrition is among the highest in the world, we cannot afford such wasteful expenditure. While Dr Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister can be termed a political disaster, the 205 crores squandered on President Pratibha Patil’s foreign jaunts is a national disgrace.
By Aires Rodrigues
Besides her foreign trips the President of India Pratibha Patil has been also recklessly traveling across the country too.
Last year President Patil was on a four day fiesta in Goa. It was first projected that it was a private visit but it was later revealed under the RTI Act that it was shown as an official one. Though President Patil was on a private holiday to Goa her visit was sought to be shown as official so that the expenditure could be charged to the State exchequer. If the trip was official the authorities should have explained the purpose of that four day trip.
A total expenditure of Rs 14, 18, 772 was incurred by the Goa Government on that President Pratibha Patil’s holiday in Goa. President Pratibha Patil was accompanied on that trip to Goa by her husband Dr. Devisingh Shekhawat, her daughter Jyoti Rathore, grand daughter Vedika Rathore and a total of 36 personal staff.
While President Pratibha Patil parked herself at Goa Raj Bhavan, a whopping Rs 3, 20,250 was spent on the lodging and boarding expenses at a five star resort Cidade de Goa for the members of the President’s entourage, and a further amount of Rs 1, 29,915 was spent on the lodging and boarding of some others in her troupe housed at the International centre at Dona Paula. A total of Rs 6, 23,188 was spent on vehicles hired by the Goa Tourism Development Corporation to be used for the President’s entourage. Rs 2, 01,220 was spent for the lunch on a day trip by the President Pratibha Patil at Taj Exotica in Benaulim. Another lunch hosted by the Chief Minister at Cidade de Goa in honour of President Patil cost the exchequer Rs 1, 19,999. While Rs 20,000 was spent on the boat ride, Para sailing and Jet Ski organized for President Patil at Benaulim beach, flowers presented to her cost the tax payer Rs 4,400
Such unnecessary trips and extravagant expenditure should stop. Besides being a very unjust burden on the State exchequer it is also an inconvenience to the public at large because of traffic jams caused by such visits. In a country where poverty is wide spread and the prevalence of child under nutrition is among the highest in the world, we cannot afford such wasteful expenditure. While Dr Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister can be termed a political disaster, the 205 crores squandered on President Pratibha Patil’s foreign jaunts is a national disgrace.
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