‘Pleasure Trips’

They call it ‘official foreign tour’ but a section of bureaucrats takes it as ‘pleasure trip’ without having to spend a single penny of their own. As often as not, career bureaucrats get such frills for establishing close rapport with ministers and those at the helm of affairs in departments concerned. Of course, some of such tours are too important to be without, so are the bureaucrats who are real back-room boys in such tours. In its front-page report headlined “Officers’ foreign tours: Dispur imposes curbs” published on August 10, 2019 The Sentinel depicts as to how a section of bureaucrats makes a mockery of ‘official foreign tours’. Jumbo-sized teams comprising bureaucrats accompanying ministers in foreign tours are a common scene in Assam. In most of the cases, such teams of officials can be downsized to bare minimum. Given the financial condition of Assam where barely 26 per cent of the total annual budgetary allocations can be spared for development and other purposes, there is certainly no room for offering frills in such ‘official foreign tours’. How come a state without the wherewithal to pay for the wellbeing of her over three crore population can be so generous for a section of her bureaucrats by offering them ‘pleasure trips’ at the cost of taxpayers’ money? Holding the purse string is a responsible job. Irresponsibility of any sort in this onerous duty may spell disaster for a nation, a state or a family, as the case may be. One has to be judicious enough while tightening the purse string and loosening it, for one is accountable for every penny of taxpayers’ money spent.

What’s worrisome as The Sentinel’s news item depicts is: sometimes big teams of officials accompany ministers on foreign tours to see and study agriculture, horticulture, manufacturing industries and the like in the destination countries so as to implement all those activities in Assam. A section of officials, however, makes a mockery of the very purpose by not implementing what they see abroad here in Assam. A conscience-pricking question here is: what’s the rationale behind sending a department-hopping bureaucrat for studying agriculture, horticulture, manufacturing industries and many more on a foreign land for their implementation in Assam? Won’t the inclusion of a few agricultural scientists in such teams serve the purpose better? An agriculture scientist, in all probability, is not supposed to hop from one department to another. At the most, he may hop from one university or institution to another. However, he is more likely to submit a valuable report for the implementation of agriculture, horticulture, gardening and the like seen on a foreign land after his return to the State. Even if he doesn’t find anything worthwhile in the tour to be implemented in the climatic condition of Assam, he’ll spell it out in a report. For a bureaucrat visiting an agricultural field or a horticultural orchard is likely to be more of sightseeing than studying deeply the scientific processes involved. However, such attributes can be expected from a scientist. Why doesn’t the government opt for availing the better service at the same cost?

It’s high time the purse string was judiciously tightened. Of late, it has come to light that the State Finance Department has introduced a set of rules aimed at curbing government spending on bureaucrats’ foreign tours from this month. The department (as reported by The Sentinel) has sought (a) a copy of previous tour report indicating quantified outcome (tangible and/or non-tangible), (b) details of efforts made by the department concerned during the interregnum to fully realize the intended outcome of the earlier visits, (c) a copy of the follow-up action of the earlier visit taken, and (d) justifying as to why the purpose of a visit cannot be served by any other means. In many an area, an ossified bureaucratic system works well when a section of bureaucrats leaves no stone unturned to avail undue and unproductive foreign tours to quench their ‘thirst for pleasure trips’ abroad at the cost of taxpayers’ money. Introduced on August 1, 2019, this set of new specifications on ‘official foreign tour’ has just been put to test. It is still to be seen as to how the departments and bureaucrats concerned take this set of specifications, and if they can bend this set of rules too or not. If this set works well with the situation, why shouldn’t the State Finance Department ossify it? If the cap fits, wear it.