December 10, 2007

Goa's flying circus
Last week you read about Anupam Saraph, a government IT advisor flying abroad twice on purported knowledge seeking missions as early as 2002/2003. It continued this month when the IT Minister Dayanand Narvekar flew to China ostensibly on yet another learning mission when instead he could have called up top consultants from any corner of the planet and they would have eagerly rushed to Goa to do business.
Narvekar's mission is a double loss for the taxpayer because it had to be aborted halfway. This is not to say had the junket continued or extended for that matter the taxpayer would have benefited. Point is also, what did the government learn from Saraph's tours of the US, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore?
Or is it really the blood lust-likeness for flying off on junkets and freebies that matters only because leave alone Larsen & Toubro, the Indian construction conglomerate that built the Hyderabad Information Technology and Engineering Consultancy City (HITEC City) –there is a
long, long list of consultants that would have readily advised Narvekar. Or for that matter the builders of any one of Bangalore's many parks like Electronics City, a 330 acre spread exclusively for electronics industries India's leaders -would at the drop of a hat fly in with greater knowledge than the copycat Chinese and give advice suited to Indian conditions. The list is endless really from Chandigarh to Chennai. You don't have to across international borders
for that, it can be had around the corner.
Mind you, after Narvekar's flight was forced to turn back (in a manner of speaking) by surprisingly Babush Monsarette of all people, Narvekar himself astonishingly divulged that all 18 IT Habitat plots were already allotted and a regulatory body appointed to oversee the project. So, why fly off to China then?
The question really is who are our most frequent flyers. Here's just one list of this growing tribe who have gotten cleverer recently and have begun literally to live off government corporations when pushed for solutions. So, when the ministry or department can't foot the bill, in ride the willing corporations. Thing is under the RTI where expenses are not incurred by the department asked the information, the department is not obliged to give it or point you in the right direction. Therefore some of the missing information below supplied by the Tourism Department. In fact a few fortunate MLAs who were not blessed additionally with ministerial berths have now found a new way to scam the taxpayer. They draw their petrol allowances as MLAs, Parliamentary Secretaries and as corporation chairman. That's the Speed way to get petrol, if you get my drift.


On the wings of fancy Destination Frequent flyer Cost to you

World Travel Mart, London AC Pereira/Satira Dias 60,000
ITB, Berlin, 2000 SS Keshkamat 52,181
Sydney, 2000 Victoria Fernandes --
SS Keshkamat 51,598
Kathmandu, 2000 Victoria Fernandes --
SS Keshkamat 17,255
Vallabh Navelkar --
ITB, 2001 Baleshwar Rai, CS --
SN Phadte 1,08,322
Dubai, 2001 Philip N. Rodrigues --
SS Keshkamat 25,050
Narendra Shirodkar 25,593
WTA, 2001 Philip N.Rodrigues --
Baleshwar Rai --
S.N Phadte 46,874
ITB, 2002 N. Suryanarayana 1,20,325
Dubai, 2002 N. Surayanarayana 20,314
Arlindo Pereira 20,314
Moscow, 2002 Mickey Pacheco --
N Suryanarayana 98,083
WTM, 2002 Mickey Pacheco --
N.Suranarayana 42,143
ITB, 2003 N. Suranarayana 1,70,966
Moscow, 2003 Deelip Karekar 1,32,293
N.Suryanarayana 53,805
SN Phadte 61,905
Dubai, 2003 Mickey Pacheco --
N.Suryanarayana 17,736
Crish Phadte 17,592
Moscow, 2003 N. Suranarayana 79,187
WTM, 2003 Mickey Pacheco --
N.Suranarayana 1,16,682
Fernanda Vales 69,341
Lisbon, 2004, Madrid, 2004 Pamela Mascarhenas 1,78,365
ITB N. Suranarayana 1,04,675
Moscow, 2004 N. Suranarayana 61,486
Dubai, 2004 N. Suranarayana 80,085
Moscow, 2004 Pamela Mascarhenas 65,630
Narendra Shirodkar 1,10,831
WTM, 2004 Pamela Mascarhenas 1,13,225
Rajesh Kale 1,13,171
Lisbon, 2005 AC Pereira 66,597
Jasmin Fernandes 66,572
Spain, 2005 Elvis Gomes 87,479
VGS
Navelkar 87,479
ITB, 2005 Pamela Mascarhenas 1,19,656
TR Rivonkar 1,04,792
Fernanda Vales 1,04,758
Dubai Elvis Gomes 32,782
VGS Navelkar 34,963
Bhichurao Naik 34,921
Beijing, 2005 Wilfred De Souza --
Sandip Jacques 98,263
Arun Prabhu 1,10,280
WTM, 2005 Wilfred De Souza --
Pamela Mascarhenas 1,15,465
Ramesh Morajkar 1,16,265
Lisbon, 2006 Sandip Jacques 2,09,881
VGS Navelkar 2,09,881
Madrid, 2006 Sandip Jacques Added above
VGS Navelkar
ITB, 2006 Pamela Mascarhenas 1,29,908
Ganesh Teli 1,29,872
Dubai, 2006 Sandip Jacques 35,236
VGS Navelkar 35,236
London, 2006 Sandip Jacques 84,511
Sydney, 2006 Wilfred De Souza --
Arlindo Pereira 1,22,625
Beijing, 2006 Wilfred De Souza --
Pamela Mascarhenas 83,633
Ganesh Teli 84,378
Moscow, 2006 Wilfred De Souza
Arlindo Pereira 1,00,774
Rodlin Mascarhenas 1,38,035
St. Petersburg, 2006 Wilfred De Souza
Arlindo Pereira
Rodlin Mascarhenas Added above
WTM, 2006 Wilfred De Souza --
Sandip Jacques 67,378
Srikant Phadte 1,11,167
Lisbon, 2007 Rajesh Kale 1,79,191
Madrid, 2007 Rajesh Kale 1,79,191
ITB, 2007 Pamela Mascarenhas 1,37,503
Fernanda Vales 1,48,065
Dubai, 2007 JR Gracias 57,438
Gajanan Mahale 57,387
New York, 2007 Mickey Pacheco --
JP Singh 72, 738
Arvind Loliyekar