Data provided by the cabinet secretariat shows more than Rs137 crore were spent by ministers of cabinet rank on the foreign travels between fiscal 2006-'07 and 2008-'09.
Cabinet ministers in the first term of the UPA government have spent more than Rs300 crore on their foreign and domestic travels in the last three years.
The data provided by the cabinet secretariat shows more than Rs137 crore were spent by ministers of cabinet rank on the foreign travels between fiscal 2006-'07 and 2008-'09, with highest in the year 2007-'08 when more than Rs115 crore were spent by them on such travels.
Surprisingly, the expenses incurred on the domestic travels of cabinet ministers during the period were more than the amount spent on their visits abroad.
There were about 30 ministers of the cabinet rank during the first term of the UPA government.
The records show that during the three-year period, the ministers spent more than Rs163 crore on their travels within the country.
The expenditure incurred by them during 2008-'09 was Rs94.4 crore, which was 38% more than the cumulative expenditure incurred on domestic travels in the previous two years.
The details were given in an RTI reply to activist SC Agrawal by the cabinet secretariat.
The reply also states that ministers of State in the Union cabinet had spent about Rs21 crore on their travels abroad during the period, while Rs27 crore were spent on their domestic visits.
About Rs127 crore were spent by the central ministers in 2008-'09, Rs138.7 crore in 2007-'08 and about Rs82.3 crore during 2006-'07 on their visits abroad as well as within the country.
The reply from the cabinet secretariat did not give any further breakup of expenses in different heads as they are held by the Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDO) of different ministries.
"This office does not have any record of any individual minister, as all the expenditure is booked under one respective head of account of all the ministers. As per existing rules of Receipts and Payments Rules the details of each and every payment to the individual concerned by the DDO of that ministry," JL Khurana, senior accounts officer at ministry of personnel, public grievances and pension said.
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