Ministers make home trips under garb of official work

Napoleon belongs to the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK) and Chennai happens to be his base as well as the party headquarters.But the trips are being justified as official, to "review implementation of the schemes of theministry." In all, the Minister undertook 26 domestic trips last year, all but two of them to Chennai.

The expense incurred on these tours by the Ministry was over Rs 26.7 lakh, reveals an RTI reply to a petition filed by activist S C Agrawal.

Surprisingly, one of his visits to Leh and Bhubaneshwar also had Chennai in the itinerary.
The reply from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, which is entrusted to look after welfare of poor and marginalised people in the country, showed that the then Minister Meira Kumar, now Lok Sabha Speaker, spent over Rs 11.5 lakh on one single trip to Chennai to "review implementation of the schemes of the ministry."

Union Minister Mukul Wasnik who took charge from Kumar undertook one visit only during the last one year. That too to Nagpur -- his home town -- "to review implementation of the schemes of the ministry."