Domestic travel in 2023-23: Chandigarh police dept leads list of spendthrifts with ₹63-lakh bill.

Hindustan Times: Hillary Vitcor: Chandigadh: Wednesday August 02, 2023.

The police officials were followed by their counterparts in the Chandigarh administration, who spent ₹24 lakh on domestic travel.

The UT police department topped the list for expenditure on domestic travel from within the office-holders in the city. The department spent ₹63 lakh in the 2022-23 financial year, amounting to around ₹5 lakh per month, on travel information procured from a Right to Information Act query revealed.

The police officials were followed by their counterparts in the UT administration, who spent ₹24 lakh on domestic travel. Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) and forest department officials, meanwhile, spent around ₹11 lakh and ₹5 lakh respectively.

The police department had in 2021-22 spent a slightly higher ₹66 lakh. The costs were much lower for the 2020-21 period, with officials spending only ₹11 lakh.

Interestingly, while the sanctioned amount for domestic travel kept changing every year, officials always ensured that they spent just under the allocated budget. In some cases, the sanctioned budget was just a few hundreds more than the amount spent. The amount sanctioned for domestic trips varied according to the amount incurred by the officers.

RK Garg, the president of the Second Innings’ Association, a senior citizens’ body, who procured the information under the RTI Act said, “It seems Chandigarh police have spent a huge amount on travel, and the officers of UT administration are not far behind. The authorities concerned should keep a check on the same and ensure judicious spending as it is the taxpayers’ money.”

Speaking of the findings, a senior police officer who did not wish to be named said, “The expenses were higher for the police department as our officers have to travel to other states for the purpose of raids and arresting several criminals.”

As per the norm, the administration is supposed to upload the details and sanction letters for foreign as well as domestic travel on the official website under public notices, but there are no details on the site of any department. Despite repeated attempts, UT finance secretary Vijay Namdeorao Zade did not respond to messages and calls.