CAG official splurged on air fare, says Goa RTI activist

A right to information (RTI) activist here Monday complained to the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG), accusing a senior official of the premier auditing and financial propriety of splurging government money.

Aires Rodrigues, in his letter of complaint to CAG chief Vinod Rai, said that Additional Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General Shankar Narayan, who was in Goa for a legislative orientation programme in June, splurged government money on business class air travel to and from New Delhi to Goa, causing a loss of Rs.45,000 to the state.

"Mr Shankar Narayanan travelled to Goa on June 8 for the above programme by business class with his airfare from Delhi to Goa and back costing Rs.60,722," said Rodrigues, on the basis of documents sourced under the Right to Information Act from the Goa legislative assembly.

Rodrigues says that Narayanan should have travelled economy class, whose fare is only Rs.16,000, instead of spending Rs.60,722 on business class airfare. The difference between the two fares is approximately Rs.45,000.

Claiming that other people for the programme travelled economy class paying Rs.16,000, Rodrigues has demanded that Narayanan should reimburse Rs.45,000 (the difference in the two fares) to the state.

"You must be aware that as part of the austerity measures, there is a clear directive by the government of India that all government officials should travel only by economy class," Rodrigues said in his complaint that Narayanan's opting for a business class flight was a breach of the austerity directive.