Indian
Express: New Delhi: Tuesday, 30 September 2014.
Residents of India’s Raj Bhavans, generally
expected to be inactive politically, seem, however, to be fairly active in matters
of culture and community sometimes pursuing these interests beyond national
boundaries.
Information given to The Indian Express by the
Ministry of Home Affairs under the Right to Information (RTI) Act shows that in
the last five years, at least three Governors sought permission to travel
abroad to attend kavi sammelans.
One went to play golf, another to attend the
graduation ceremony of a granddaughter.
Other
Governors travelled overseas to attend Marwari, Maratha, or similar sammelans.
Admittedly, several of these Governors’ trips abroad were personal, or
“private” visits.
Between 2009
and now, only 17 Governors sought a no-objection certificate from the
government to travel abroad. Ten of them went overseas on one occasion; seven
Governors travelled more than once, records show.
According to
the data, Gen (retd) J J Singh, who was Governor of Arunachal Pradesh from 2008
until May 2013, was the most frequent flier, making nine trips abroad during
his tenure, six of which have been described as “private” in the Home
Ministry’s reply.
Five of these
private visits were to UK-France; one to the US-Canada. He spent a total 73
days abroad on these trips, according to records.
One of Gen
Singh’s trips abroad was to Dubai for eight days in 2011 “to participate in the
Dubai Desert Classic Golf Tournament”. This trip has not been marked “private”
in the RTI reply; however, reached for a comment, Gen Singh said this was not
an official visit.
Two of the
former Governor’s official trips were to Singapore, the details of one of which
he was unable to recollect. About the other trip to Singapore, and his personal
visits abroad, Gen Singh said, “My trip to Singapore was to address the
Singapore International Water Week in June 2009, and to deliver a talk on the water
resources of Northeastern India. The details of the event, in which the Prime
Minister of Singapore participated as the chief guest, are available on the
Internet.
“Regarding my
private visits abroad during my tenure of over five years, they were primarily
to spend time with my son and his family in Normandy. We consider it a duty and
an obligation to spend a week or two with our children and grandchildren at
least once a year. Besides that, I visited UK, USA and Canada in connection
with the release of my autobiography, ‘A Soldiers General’, which was launched
in Delhi in 2012.
” D Y Patil,
who is currently Governor of Bihar, had, as Governor of Tripura in 2011,
visited Bangladesh for four days on an “invitation from the Bangladesh Foreign
Minister”, according to the reply. Between May 1 and May 5 last year, Patil
visited Mauritius “to attend Maharashtra and Shivajee Day”.
The D Y Patil
Group, founded by Patil, runs a medical college in Mauritius. A senior officer
at Patna’s Raj Bhavan said, “Patil does not take any money from the government.
He visited Mauritius at the invitation of the Marathi community there, and
attended a function at his college. The government bore the expenses of some
members of the Governor’s staff who travelled with him.
” About a month
after being sworn in as Governor of West Bengal on July 24, Keshari Nath
Tripathi went to the UK for eight days to “participate in the Virat Kavi
Sammelan”.
The Home
Ministry received a letter from the Ministry of External Affairs, saying “It is
recommended that a formal financial sanction may be issued to enable the High
Commission of India, London, to cover the expenditure for the above visit as
Shri Tripathi holds the position of Governor.”
Tripathi has
attended kavi sammelans in London before being appointed Governor as well. Raj
Bhavan, Kolkata, did not respond to requests for a comment. M C Bhandare, who
was Governor of Orissa until March last year, spent 56 days abroad in the
course of six personal trips. Four of these visits were to Singapore, and one
each to South Africa and the UK. He visited Singapore thrice in 2009.
Bhandare’s
trip to London was to “attend the graduation ceremony of granddaughter”.
Reached for a comment, the former Governor said, “I visited South Africa to pay
homage to Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. My private visits to Singapore
were to be with my son, who has an office and home there.”
Uttarakhand
Governor Aziz Qureshi sought Home Ministry clearance to visit Dubai twice last
year to participate in poetry recitation programmes. “Yes, I took permission to
attend a kavi sammelan and a mushaira organised by the Indian community there,
but was ultimately unable to go,” Qureshi told The Indian Express.
The Home
Ministry must clear, and the President must approve, all visits abroad by
Governors. The Indian Express’s RTI application was sent to the President’s
Secretariat, which forwarded it to the Home Ministry. The information provided
by the Ministry is for cases “for which the MHA has conveyed its no-objection”.
M K Narayanan,
who resigned as Governor of West Bengal on June 30, spent a total 35 days
abroad, spread over eight official trips, during his tenure. One of Narayanan’s
trips was “to accept Gusi Peace Prize” in the Philippines, and another to
Bhutan to attend the “wedding ceremony of His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel
Wangchuck, King of Bhutan”.
Narayanan
said: “All the trips were officially approved and sanctioned by the President
of India and the central government.”
N D Tiwari,
who had to resign as Andhra Pradesh Governor in 2009 after a sex video of him
surfaced, had, barely a month earlier, spent 23 days in the USA “to study
critical academic and administrative aspects with a view to develop higher
education system in Andhra Pradesh”. He returned on November 23, 2009, and
resigned on December 26.
Jagannath
Pahadia, who was Governor of Haryana until July, visited Nepal in 2012 for four
days to be the chief guest at “Nepali Marwari Community Social Gathering and
Maharaja Agrasen Jayanti Celebrations”.
The
octogenarian Pahadia told The Sunday Express, “Yes, I visited Nepal along with
some officials in October 2012, but I no longer remember the details of the
programme.” Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah visited Malaysia last year for three
days to attend the “International Conference of World Telugu Federation”.
According to
the Home Ministry, Governors who sought no-objection certificates for more than
one trip were: Gen J J Singh, M C Bhandare, K Sankaranarayanan, M K Narayanan,
S C Jamir, Margaret Alva, D Y Patil and Aziz Qureshi.
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