Tour details of DoPT babus put online; Rs 5.3 crore spent in 3 months

NEW DELHI: In a step towards ensuring greater transparency in governance, the Department of Personnel and Training ( DoPT) today put international and domestic tour details of its officials in public domain.

As per the details put on DoPT website, the officials have spent Rs 5.30 crore in visiting places like Switzerland, Zurich and Kuala Lumpur among others between October and December last year.

The "suo motu" move was taken after central government departments received frequent applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking details of official tours undertaken by ministers and other officials.

The DoPT had in September last year directed all the ministries to make public details of foreign and domestic tours undertaken by ministers and senior officers.

As per the details put on the website, 18 foreign visits to Switzerland, Zurich, Rome, Paris, New York, Washington and Kuala Lumpur among others were undertaken by the officials of Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

Eight domestic visits were undertaken by the officials for various purposes during the period. The officials, including IAS and ministerial staff, spent Rs 5.30 crore -- Rs 5.25 on international and Rs 4.8 lakh on domestic visits.

The details include nature of the official tour, places visited, the period, number of people included in the official delegation and total cost of such travel undertaken by a minister or senior officers.