Details of ministers’ foreign tours to be put online

The Union Cabinet Secretariat will soon publish online details of foreign and inland tours made ministers and the expenses incurred on them. The decision follows a Chief Information Commission (CIC) direction issued to this effect.

While hearing an RTI complaint, the CIC, on March 29, 2011, said it would be in the interest of transparency if some key information about domestic and international travels by union ministers could be maintained centrally.

A separate RTI was filed with the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions in November, 2011 seeking details of action taken by the ministry to make publish online details of foreign and inland travels of union ministers and others at public expenses.

The response said that the department concerned under the ministry of personnel, public grievances & pensions does not host any website of its own. “So in the light of the CIC decision, it has been decided that the said information would be sent on a regular basis to the cabinet secretariat, which will, in turn, upload this information on its website,” the ministry’s response said.