The Centre Government is displeased by the foreign tour of ministers for their summer vacations
Footsteps are heard in the summer. This time record heat may fall on the country; the ‘alert’ central government is meeting three months in advance. At this time, how does it feel when the family returns from a foreign country, especially a cold country? According to the source, the ministers of state from different parts of the country have been continuously writing letters of request to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Finance, and even the Prime Minister’s Office!
These ministers are keeping a bird’s eye on the upcoming summer in terms of foreign travel. No, not with the common people’s tax money. They want to leave the country on a pleasure trip at their own expense! Still unhappy centre Government. Government sources in New Delhi claim that the Cabinet Secretariat has sent a letter to the top local bureaucrats, chief secretaries, or lieutenant governors of all states and union territories, being fed up with the push for foreign travel by state ministers.
The letter clarified that the top local bureaucrats of the respective states or union territories should ensure that no application goes to Delhi seeking permission to travel abroad. If a state minister wants to travel abroad on personal or official work, he has to apply as per the guidelines issued by the central government, where the entire matter of his application will be taken care of by the chief secretaries of the respective states.
Note that if the Chief Minister of a state wants to go abroad, he has to take prior permission from the Ministry of External Affairs, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Prime Minister’s Office. The same principle applies to the members of the Union Cabinet. If the Chief Minister of a State or the Union Minister expresses his desire to attend any official function abroad, the Central Government examines the relevance of the person’s participation in that function and the necessity of such participation in the overall interest of the country. Political clearance, Foreign Contribution Regulation Act or FCRA clearance, is required for any state government minister to travel abroad. He has to liaise with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs on these matters.
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