IAS and the Joystick

Yes, Yes, I know they have that Maharaja-type allowance that is probably as hefty as the old privy purse India's erstwhile rulers were entitled to and Indira Gandhi abolished. But you would expect our New Age rulers to – well, after all, in India they are comparable to the ruling class ie the combination of political class and the bureaucrats. There is of course the moneyed class who control the puppet strings in some way and influence the former. Anybody outside these three classes is the sucker class or the ruled. You would and despite all I have been saying, think that our bureaucrats would at least make an attempt to fly around less. The thought made you a fool, as my teacher was fond of saying. Take a look.

AUTO PILOT
J P Singh
His flying to Delhi mainly between 2 February 2006 and 10 October 2007 cost Rs 17,43,663. That is a lot of flying in a short period. This included Rs 2,44,509 spent jetting to France and Portugal and Rs 3,73,499 to fly to the Big Apple. Some people have their apple and eat it too, if you get my drift. Dare I add, despite 9/11 when the world changed and the Big Apple changed forever, losing two of its symbols of economic power. But for our bureaucrats, economic power comes from the taxes you and I pay.

RP Pal
The Bong with the huge Bang to spend your tax money, spent Rs 8,24,733 flying literally with permission to take off by Ground Control. Because while his brethren could enforce the need-to-fly-to-Delhi clause in their defense of flying to the capital where India's ultimate rulers preside over them, Pal chose instead to fly where he fancied – Sydney and Andamans and like a homing pigeon he headed to Kolkatta frequently. His flying expense included Rs 2,19,719 to go to Sydney. He spent Rs 1,43,600 to fly to Port Blair in the Andamans between 17-18 July 2006, quite obviously with family or friends. Poor Pal, he had to return the same day. That must have taken him some doing because there are no direct flights to the island which was known only for its tribals till the tsunami in 2004 that wrought havoc there. Either that or, the RTI data on the dates is wrong. He also spent Rs 53,519 flying directly to Port Blair returning via Kolkata and Mumbai this time on 22-29 October 2007. Pal returned to the Kolkata he missed so badly, on 6-10 November 2005, on 5-10 December 2005, on 29 March-1 April 2006, on 8-16 May 2006, on 31 August-5 September 2007, 23-24 March 2007 for a day only, and on 30 July-30 August 2007 for an entire month this time, evidently returning only after exhausting his love for the city. These seven trips to Kolkata cost Rs2,23,167 and does not include the one flight from Port Blair to Kolkata. Pal, who recently was in the news for all the wrong reasons, flew 21 times in the time researched 11 September 2005-29 October 2007

JK Dadoo
A former Developement Comissioner and also acting Chief Secretary, he did his damndest to fly to Delhi only billing you Rs 11,04,312. Incredibly the man flew only once between Delhi-Hyderabad and once between Daman-Delhi. Or was it actually credible, because I think Dadoo the Big Daddy of planning holidays abroad was saving up for his flight to Iran between 5-15 November 2005. Cost: Rs 1,01,000. He had Rs 6,77,496 (that's right) to spare to fly off to Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico between 21 April-5 May 2006. The only other foreign frequent flier I can think of as a result of my research is the non –resident or barely resident, Commissioner for NRI Affairs, Eduardo Faleiro. I researched Dadoo's flying habits from 30 July 2005-7 September 2006 and in this short span of 13 months and a week discovered he flew 23 times! The man was barely at his desk preferring the pressurized cabin air of an aircraft to the regulated air (thanks to air-conditioners) inside his own cabin at the Secretariat.

Now consider this. If you factor in Pal's and Dadoo's hotel, internal travel, food, gift and entertainment expenses incurred during their travels, you might seriously want to become Kamikazi pilots–the Japanese WWII pilots who flew their bomb-laden aircraft into allied warships. In a short period (November 2005-May 2006) I also researched his eating habits and Dadoo spent Rs 2,53,271 entertaining government secretaries etc including this huge one; spending Rs 1,20,850 on a farewell dinner for Kiran Dingra (ex-CS) at the Taj Holiday Village on 22 January 2006. Chew on that.

(Next week: More on IAS)

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