All these trips, barring one, fell in the official category.
The ministers had proposed to travel to destinations such as the US, UK, France, Italy, Japan, Australia and South Africa, and the total number of days they would have been abroad were 125, barring travel time. The Indian Express obtained this information under the Right to Information Act (RTI).
Among those denied clearance were Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal, Corporate Affairs Minister Veerappa Moily, Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Food Minister K V Thomas (who has so far received four refusals under UPA-II, the maximum).
Pawar, who wanted to travel to France for two days in February 2010, said his ministry had simply asked for the MEA’s advice and the ministry had counselled against a trip. “I generally avoid travelling abroad. I travel only when it seems must to travel,” Pawar told The Indian Express.
In its reply to the RTI application, the MEA said the 39 trips that were denied included those in which “political clearance” didn’t come through, in which proposals for trips were rejected and in which foreign trip was not recommended.
The Prime Minister’s Office gives approvals for Union ministers’ official and personal foreign trips. They are supposed to follow “austerity” measures adopted by the Department of Expenditure, an aspect looked after by the financial advisor in the concerned ministry.
However, before the proposal goes to the PMO, “political clearance” is needed from the MEA. Sometimes, the MEA’s advice is sought before the proposal is given for political clearance. In many cases, the MEA advises at the very first stage that the minister need not travel to the said destination. Refusal on grounds of political clearance can be embarrassing for a minister.
For political clearance, the MEA takes into account the nature and purpose of the proposed visit, the foreign dignitaries/ organisations/ institutions with which interaction is sought, the nature of the invitations received from foreign authorities, if any, and the timing of the visit.
While these denials were not issued for any financial or austerity reasons, the fact remains that against the Rs 46.95 crore budgeted for their foreign tour expenses in 2011-12, Cabinet ministers, ministers of state and former prime ministers spent Rs 499.89 crore.
While Pawar wanted to travel to France for an important international agriculture exhibition in Paris, Thomas was to visit Germany, Morocco, China and the US. In October 2011, Thomas’s plans for a three-day trip to New Jersey in the US for the “Fourth National Conference of India Press Club of North America” were shot down.
Jaiswal was denied a visit to Australia, Japan and the UK in March this year “to address the Commonwealth Energy Summit”.
Ministers who were denied clearance
Sharad Pawar
France (Feb 26-27, 2010)
Anand Sharma
Hong Kong (Nov 15-16,2011)
Praful Patel
Turkey (Oct 31, 2009)
Subodh Kant Sahay
Germany (Jan 13-17, 2010)
C P Joshi
Brazil (Dec 15-19, 2010)
Vincent H Pala
Bhutan (Nov 16-18, 2010)
Harish Rawat
Egypt (Jan 11-15, 2011)
Mahadeo S Khandela
USA (June 22-26, 2011)
Krishna Tirath
China (Nov 9-11, 2011)
R P N Singh
Singapore (Oct 31, 2011)
Ajay Maken
Israel (Nov 7, 2011)
Mukul Wasnik
Indonesia (Aug 9-13, 2009)
Panabaka Lakshmi
Australia & New Zealand
(Sept 18-26, 2010)
Those denied clearance but are no longer ministers:
Gurudas Kamat
USA (Sept 10-11, 2009)
A Raja
USA (Sept 17-18, 2009);
China (June 22-25, 2010);
Italy (Nov 14-15, 2010)
M S Gill
South Africa (July 10-16, 2010)
Dayanidhi Maran
USA (Sept 20-25, 2010)