Party Time - III

Carte du jour

The Minister for Revenue Jose Philip entertained modestly (remember, his flying too was moderate compared to his compadres) between April 2009-February 2010, the only relevance here for you as a taxpayer is he entertained some unnamed officials on June 5 and on November 6 he entertained a group of again unnamed police officers and officials of the Mormugao Port Trust, and District Collectors at a total cost of Rs 25,488 at Hotel La Paz. He threw his latest bash (January 7, 2010) for an unnamed group of councillors, officials and ‘dignitaries’. The La Paz bill is awaited.

That goes too for the Minister for Home Ravi Naik who kept a low profile unlike his other headline grabbing. Naik threw a dinner for “guests” attending the India Internal Security Conclave 2009 at the Majorda Beach Resort on September 24, 2009. Cost: Rs 90,000. On November 1 he threw a dinner for Diwan Chand (currently Special Secretary, Home) at the Fort Aguada Beach Resort that cost a whopping Rs 1,23,851. And a dinner for IPS probationers visiting Goa at the same hotel that cost Rs 1,38,076 on November 16. For your information, IPS and IAS probationers routinely visit Goa just like every other man or woman who draws a Government of India salary. Which is great if you own a posh hotel, posh restaurant or posh cab, right? But, do we have to wine and dine them at taxpayers cost? Ravi Naik thinks so, because he was back (February 28, 2010) to entertaining, this time a group of 80 unnamed officials at the Hotel Marriott. Bill awaited.

Typically, the Minister for Tourism (now ex) Mickky Pacheco entertained a group of Khazakstan delegates at the Park Hyatt on October 7, 2009. Cost: Rs 66,393. Put that down as being for the glory and good of that other fatted cow, the tourism industry. Proof of the pudding! How about this? Manohar Azgaonkar, the Minister for Panchayat threw a bash at Hotel Marriott on September 9, 2009 for delegates attending the “workshop of Principal Secretaries in charge of Panchayati Raj in Indian States” and some unnamed “others”. Cost: Rs 65,189.

Host with the most

It truly does pay to be a big cheese on holiday in Goa. Though, sometimes any kind will do, thank you. You are guaranteed at least one freebie dinner, sometimes two and no proof of your credentials is required. It’s enough if you play the part. Here’s proof of that and of Digambar Kamat’s parties that cost more than Rs 2L. He threw a Rs 3,73,024 dinner on June 27, 2008 for the chairman and members of the 13th Finance Commission and 100 other allegedly big wheels (producers etc) of the South Asian film industry at the Cidade de Goa. How did two very disparate groups come together in Goa, you ask? Could it be the trouble-free access to your easily available tax bucks? Or, that the government tried to kill two birds with one stone or, a combination of both. Remarkably, the same day the Minister for Finance (now ex) Dayanand Narvekar was also dining the chairman and members of the 13th Finance Commission at the same Cidade de Goa. Cost: Rs 87,943. That’s a total of Rs 4,60,967, but two dinners, same invitees? Was the government trying to get around its own self-imposed cap on partying following a series of similar exposures in this same column some time ago?

Open House

Kamat threw a Rs 2,00,227 do for 100 unnamed revelers at the Park Hyatt on August 12, 2008. On October 4, 2008 he blew Rs 3,99,800 on an Id-Milan jamboree at his official residence in Panjim. Amazingly, that night he threw a second, this time, Rs 2,48,460 dinner for some doctors from Maharashtra and Goa on the cruise boat Princess de Goa. On January 24, 2009 he hosted of all people on this planet, delegates of the 57th National Town and Country Planners Congress. That’s right, the same guys who give you the most grief (after politicians) with all their skewed planning. The Rs 3,51,854 dinner was held at Cidade de Goa. A Rs 3,88,927 dinner for delegates of the 12th Conference on e-Governance on IT at Hotel Inn Resort on February 12, 2009. A Rs 2,08,388 dinner at the Cidade de Goa for Jaime Lerner, an expert on urban planning from Brazil. This time guests of the DD Kosambe Festival of Ideas were invited to the dinner proving my point. Exactly a year later, February 12,2010, Kamat would host another dinner (see Party Time -1, July 25) for participants of the same DD Kosambe festival of Ideas at the same venue. So, was Lerner just an excuse to dine these guys? Makes you wonder.

Money for nothing

What’s more, the government’s Protocol Department might have inadvertently added a new dimension to VVIP to mean Visiting Very Important Persons. It incurred independently an expenditure of Rs 29,83,639 on accommodation and food for VVIPs visiting Goa between April 2008 and February 2010.

COST OF THE PARTY

Vishwajeet Rane Rs 4,54,282

Ravi Naik Rs 3,51,927

Aleixo Sequeira Rs 1,31,017

Manohar Azagaonkar Rs 65,189

Miccky Pacheco Rs 66,393

Jose Philip Rs 25,488

TOTAL: Rs 35,35,400

April 2008-March 2009: Rs 36,64,744

TOTAL: Rs 72,00,144

Protocol Department Rs 29,83,639

GRAND TOTAL: Rs 1,01,83,783!

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