Dr. Ahluwalia does not contradict a single fact in the article:
(i) Rs.2.02 lakh daily average expenditure for trips between May and October 2011 (well after his “busy” G-20 period ending in 2010). No “gross extravagance”?
(ii) 274 days abroad, or one in every nine. Factor in travel days and it could be one in seven away from office.
(iii) 42 trips, half of them visits to the U.S. (several trips not connected with his duties as Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission).
The link between the poverty line figures he supports (and defends in the Supreme Court) and his own expenditures is extremely relevant and pertinent. It is hypocrisy to impose one approach on an impoverished people while practising another — entirely different — for himself, with their money — public money. That too in a period where his government calls for more austerity. Dealing with abject poverty was central to the founding principles of the Planning Commission. But that, unlike Dr. Ahluwalia, is hobbled by “resource constraints.”
The travel period he cites as vital (2008-10) was one in which Dr. Manmohan Singh had ordered that government “severely curtail expenditure on air travel, particularly foreign travel,” except where deemed “absolutely necessary” (The Hindu, June 6, 2008).
Several ministers' foreign trips were cancelled and cuts announced in travel expenses. Two ministers lost their five-star hotel suites. The External Affairs Minister gave up his plane for overseas trips, and others flew economy class (The Hindu, September 13, 2009). Dr. Ahluwalia is silent on what class he actually travelled by, then or thereafter, or his expenses.
How much travel does he undertake within India — surely a priority for a Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission? Put that up on the website?
Costs of $4,000 (daily average) are huge. And we don't know what the embassies and consulates spent on him locally. But spending curbs worry Dr. Ahluwalia, who asks “whether and to what extent this would affect our ability to enter into negotiations immediately on arrival…” Hope he spares a thought for how millions of Indian travellers, like migrant labourers, journey, and have to be productive on arrival. He plans for them, after all. G-20 meetings in 2008-10 were held in different countries, but his visits mostly took him to the U.S. His U.S. visits were prolific earlier, too, as the RTI data show.
Given the importance he claims for his sherpa work in G-20 and other forums, which he admits is unconnected to the Planning Commission, why remain in the Commission and paralyse its functioning by being absent so often? The first day of the 11th Plan was April 1, 2007. But the Plan document was ready only on June 25, 2008 — an entire year wasted that brought cascading disaster for many vital projects. The “mid-term” appraisal came in the fourth year of that Five-Year Plan! Now, we're into the first year of the 12th Plan and it is not even remotely ready.
It is good to know the Planning Commission's website will carry his travel details. But the RTI data was also about his expenses. Will he put those up, too? Better still, if other PC members' expenses go up as well, to allow us comparisons.
It is a measure of how disconnected Dr. Ahluwalia is that he does not sense how the public views his expenditures. Nor, worse, the further damage his clarification will do to their perceptions.
sainath@thehindu.co.in
Keywords: Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Planning Commission, Ahluwalia foreign trips, poverty line, austerity measures, BPL, India story
Mr. Vijender,
You did not understand Sainath's main argument. He is questioning
Montek's inefficiency. These tours to USA even if it cost Rs 100 still
wastage. Because he doesn't do it for the Planning Commission or for
country. He visits his relatives in the name of G 20etc.
I am working as a consultant for software company, as part of my job I
have lived in most of the expensive cities in US (such as DC, Newyork,
Chicago etc). If you plan your travel well, you can get a very good
stay for few hundreds. Normally, I used to get that less than 200$ for
a good double bed with all amenities (what ever you need for a good
stay). Let us put that as 500$ for Mr. Montek. If you travel in economy
class it would be max of 2000$ for air travel per trip. Business Class
would be 7000$ and first class 8000$.
So, if he had spent wisely. The total expense would have been
Air 5 trips 5 X 2000 = 10000
Hotel 16 nights 16 X 500 = 8000
Food 16 x 300 (how much he can eat) = 4800
So the total is 22800, but he spent 72,000
Ok, now let him travel in business class then,
Air 5 trips 5 X 7000 = 35000
Hotel 16 nights 16 X 500 = 8000
Food 16 x 300 (how much he can eat) = 4800
Still it is only 47,000 only, you can now imagine how much he would
have spent.
I had written to the hon. prime minister of India about 6 months ago asking him how come secretaries, ministers et al que up in attending meetings, conferences being called by industries and their associations and federations. And is there a caveat given to them not to participate on such occasions when civil society groups organise the same?
In one such meetings that CII organised, the planning commission secretary who chaired the session even sarcastically made a comment as if whther she is there to chair a secretaries' meeting!! Only union government secretaries were on the dias numbering about seven! The point here is that if people who are in touch with the am admi go there, there is a cold response and the refrain is that either the parliament is in session, they are travelling, or on leave. I had once waited outside Dr Montek's chamber for hours to get a reply that he is not able to meet me after having my 'bio-data' and purpose furnished! Kudos to all.
Padmakumar Rao- It is true - industrialists or any man like you and me
spend the money we have earned ourselves via our daily labor to
support the lifestyle we lead. Mr Ahluwalia's expenses are met from
the exchequer, which is money we have given to the govt to look after
us. We do not give it to the govt to go on holidays!
There is a thing as well-dressed and presentable and there is lavish
spending and burning public money. Mr Ahluwalia seems to have done the
latter.
Lastly I don't care if the entire world's diplomats and bureaucrats
burn the people's money as has been alleged. India can show the way.
Aritra Gupta: A national newspaper of The Hindu's stature will have comments with a point of
view different from yours, even on an article that may mirror your views. There is no need no
try to browbeat these commenters into silence with your rudeness.
Sainath seems detached from reality. A business class ticket to
Washington costs more than 2.5 lakhs on a short notice. Top it up with
2 nights in a hotel room plus conference facilities, usage of business
centre, will cost another 1 lakh for 2 nights.
To keep Sainath happy Montek should travel on cheapest flights with
multiple connections through central asia and back of the beyond,
reaching Washington in 4 days. Sadly Sainath will still complain
saying he was away from office for 20 days for a 2 day business trip.
Well said; all big folks in Power spend recklessly for personal pleasure and find excuses of participation in meetings/discussion for betterment of relations ?? With internet at finger tips, why not hold video conference as MANY private companies do saving time and cost ?
Every minister has hidden agenda for travel sure - to get allowance by hook or crook to boost own bank balance and pretend work for Govt ! Sad state of affairs; when and how this can be stopped, NO clue; God help!!
They are like dogs walking under the bullock cart. Dogs believe as if all the weight of cart is on their shoulder ...
Hope the response received will motive the authors and other journalists
to report and bring to light how the super rich are relentlessly pursuing super natural profits for the sake of personal luxuries without
given enough thought to the fact that there may not be much left in thsi
world for their offspring's...
James Gurung- That is an insult to India. An Indian will get the top
IMF job by virtue of merit, not by buying millions of dollars' worth
of "influence and support". Rather than advise Mr Sainath, you should
stop your incoherent screeching.
SANKARAN- You have missed the point altogether. Mr Sainath has
attacked MSA's extravagance. When the common man has his pocket ripped
threadbare by rising prices, how dare a public servant spend $4000.00
of public money daily abroad? If spending $4000.00 brings in ten times
that amount per day (as per your own logic) then spending $1000.00 per
day brings in forty times that amount per day. Which is better? Use
your head.
Marc- Yes he can. Sainath spends his own money. Montek spends public
money. His (Montek's) standards have been lowered by his poverty level
of Rs 22 per day. Please do not comment without dwelling on the facts.
For the few fulminations against P.Sainath, one should remember that it was Mr.Ahluwalia’s Marie Antoinette stand on rural and urban spending to determine the poverty line threshold that was the trigger. And for those who accuse Mr.Sainath of blurring lines, one can only evoke Plato ‘institutions are not born out of an oak or a rock but from the minds of (wo)men that dwell therein’- when an individual’s world views come to represent and shape institutions and its tasks, then one is compelled to call the individual into question as well. For somebody, who spends as many days annually in rural India gleaning stories of misery from the margins if not more than that Mr.Ahluwalia spends abroad, Mr.Sainath definitely has the intellectual and moral authority to call upon his subject and in the process the reader to indulge in some soul-search.
Sainath's article is without any reason. Just because one is a planning commission does not mean he has to wear torn clothes and live in a mud-hut eating one meal per day. How much should Mr. Ahulwalia spend according to Mr. Sainath? 50, 500 or 5000 or 50K per day? Who gets to deicde this morality? What about those Industrialists those who lead lavish lifestyles? Oh wait; they get "hard-earned" money; they lie beyond questioning. Those who are in government sector and who spend "public money" should only travel in Garib Rath. Nowhere in the world, including sub-saharan Africa, ministers or cabinet rank people will travel in Bullock carts.
Ahluwalia's clarifications hide more than reveal.He says that all his visits and expenditure incurred on them were approved by the PMO. But does not the austerity apply to him? At the high level, back scratching is galore. As a Deputy chairman, he should travel more in India to convince us as to how a common man can manage with a meagre amount fixed for people under the BPL than travel abroad for attending World Bank meetings meant to disconcert the third world countries.
A fitting reply to the so-called clarification! What is the use of
holding degrees from international universities if the leaders have no
touch with the common man (it is us - not the fictional aam aadmi of the
Congress!) and the ground reality?
We as a nation are indeed thankful to Mr.Sainath for representing what
we all collectively feel. Mr. Ahluwalia and other leaders, please listen
to what we have to say first and then listen to your international
peers.
it is unfortunate for a hyper senior official of a govt. is feigning
ignorance about responsibilities he has towards his countrymen.Mr. prime
minister must look into this. How a person with such ignorance towards
his country can continue as deputy chairman.We have had never been such
a inefficient man holding such important post in planning commission.Mr.
sainath has done a commendable job for his informative article and a
very fitting reply.
Perhaps MSA's trips are meant for attending continuing education
programmes on statistics. How to word reports that table available
figures arising out of the planning commission's mandates and work
records. How to make and what annual predictions about the country's
economy. How to eventually render the PC irrelevant...
Responses from Praveen Kumar M and Suresh Melettukochy sum up all very well.
Shri. Niladrinath Mohanty's comments make interesting reading and shows
the craze of the people for foreign travel. Let them enjoy, they are
entitled, but not at tax-payers expense. Let them pay themselves and go
on leave. I hope that the person was not accompanied by his family
which,had it been so, would have surely given him/her more joy.
Red salute for befitting reply....do some thing on share holding of ministers in private corporations
It is better to attack the poor quality of a man's work than the man himself. Sainath's original article on the poverty line is admirable, and it exposed how badly the planning commission was being run. But questioning a Rs 36 lakh bill from a cabinet minister ranked person (when a President has spent Rs 200 crores plus) smacks of a ad-hominem attack. I think that Mr Ahluwalia has taken the high road here, and Mr Sainath, the low road. Mr Sainath should have quit while he was ahead, but he insists on replying to replies and so on.
Hope Mr Ahluwalia would make transparent all the details of his foreign
travels and also the minutes of the meetings he held during foreign
travels. He may be entitled to fly by first class but if wanted he
could have flown by economy.
Great work done by Sainath-more such expose's are needed. There is no
reason why these profligate spenders can't try and curtail their
expenditure abroad. Board members of PSU's have to make do with what
appear to be ridiculously low figures that cover not only accomodation and
transport, but also out of pocket expenses. special sanction is often
required to cover costs for entertainment. Would be interesting to know
the objective behind the various trips to the USA and what was actually
achieved.
Ahluwalia's reply is a defense of his and the Govt.'s attitude.He does not show any inclination to concede that what he has been indulging in is extravagance, at least in view of the declarations made by the PM/ FM re: austerity.
Therefore the lesson we draw from what Sainath has so brilliantly brought to our notice, is that they (the Rulers) have two standards of behaviour----one for the AAM AADMI and the other for 1.VIPs and 2.for those whom this govt has been shamelessly and openly serving---the rich and the filthy rich.
This is a shocking disclosure by Sainath: "The first day of the 11th Plan was April 1, 2007. But the Plan document was ready only on June 25, 2008 ... Now, we're into the first year of the 12th Plan and it is not even remotely ready." If Montek were to be occupying an equivalent position in Singapore, he would have been sacked and shamed publicly, long time ago! As a person of Indian origin (born and bred overseas), I have often thought that these officials and politicians from India must be devoid of any sense of shame to even show their faces abroad when hundreds of millions of people in India are still going without proper housing, nutrition, education, health care, clean water and sanitation. What a shameless breed!
The questioning of Mr.Sainath about the entirely different(LIFE STYLE) of Dr.Ahluwalia from that of poor Indian people appears to be improper.Similarly the comments of Mr.Suresh Melettukochy that Dr.Ahluwalia and the prime minister are serving the Ambanis and Mittals are absolutely absurd and to be condemned.Mr.Sainath must understand that all the above expenses will become reasonable and acceptable, if only those trips have brought ten times revenue to
the nation. When the costs and benefits are not discussed as Dr. Ahluwalia pointed out, it shows that the author's view are biased. The Hindu is the voice of people's conscience.When one of its editor projects biased articles, it must be careful. Mr.Sainath is having the habit of looking through the communists lens.No doubt all the communists are patriotic ,work for the poor and organised people and far, far better than allother politicians. But their blind opposition to the computerisation spioed the nations progress by ten years.
Nice...Democracy and freedom of press at work. Atleast Mr. Ahluwalia had the civility to respond. Hope he lends more clarity to his responsibility.
I hope he realizes that being deputy Chairman of the National Commission is more than a full time job. Let him not stoop to the levels of petty politicians and take on more responsibilities (and the inherent influence it offers) than he can possibly deliver.
The last paragraph of Sainath's reply is right on the dot. Montek Singh and folks like him have NEVER known what the reality for 70% of the population of India is. Saying that "Air travel and hotels in major capitals are expensive" shows his ignorance of existence of equally comfortable but not obscenely opulent hotels in all major cities of the world, even in India. Saying that "the class of air travel and the class of hotels are not determined by me, but by the government rules applicable to all Ministers, Members of Parliament and senior officials," is plain bureaucratese. The "government" does NOT, cannot force any one to travel first class and stay in deluxe hotels. One can travel, as comfortably, in business class too, and attend meetings on arrival, as most of those who use their own money, do, as the government rules themselves say, "A public servant uses govt money as a prudent man would use his own money." But folks such as Ahluwalia are not public "servants" but "masters"!
The best point of Sainathji goes to the core responsibility of a head honcho of any organization, especially public one using tax money - accountability. Mr. Ahluwalia is to be held accountable for the inordinate delay in finalizing five year plans and the reviews. He is at pains to reply to Sainath with the weak excuses on his expenses taking cover under rules. In this, he has exhibited poor leadership, in line with all the other ministers, whether highly educated or not. This whole issue brought up by Sainathji calls for a system revamp at the highest levels of governance, putting accountability objectives and performance evaluation as the prime focus.
Clearly as a part of his responsibilities and the role that he plays Dr.Ahluwalia is entitled to a certain standard in terms of accommodations. It is unreasonable to ask him to make concessions to satisfy Mr Sainath's or any other citizens demands in the same way that he does not get to demand Mr.Sainath to only travel by economy class. Considering that as Mr.Ahluwalia indicated all of his trips are first authorized by the government and that the travel and accommodations provided are determined by a set standard I do not see how Mr.Ahluwalia can be judged to be at fault.
On the aspect of there being perhaps too many trips rather than leveling baseless accusations it would be prudent for Mr.Sainath to peruse the travel documents and identify a specific trip that he believes was frivolous an non value adding. What I read of this article seemed like a whole lot of rhetoric and diatribe and is not what I have come to expect from the Hindu.Report the facts, leave the interpretation to us.
Beautifully & rightly countered by Sainath. Bravo! You sure belong to us, the India!
Such a shameless fellow this Montek Singh. In a country reeling with
hunger, inflation and unemployment, he defends his 5 star foreign trips
with such gusto. really thick skinned.
Someone has mentioned that the cost of his travell was high because Montek was lobbying for IMF job. Well, any of this does not makes his pathetic performance as Planning Commissioner looks better. In the same way, should one not write 'diatribes' against agriculture minister since he is a chairman of ICC?
I have been following MS Ahluwalia's forecast about inflation and prices. He has made himself a laughing stock. Such people are connected to Bharat. About foreign trips I narrate one conversation I had with a Chairman-Managing Director(CMD) of a NavaRatna public sector company and leave it to the readers to judge how foreign visits are planned and undertaken. A Director of the same company went to attend a conference on mining in Australia. The Director was an electrical engineer and had little relevant knowledge in mining. I asked the CMD how come this Director had gone to attend such a meeting. His reply astounded me. He told me that it is the Ministry people who wanted to visit Australia and the Navratna company became the carrier and the conference an excuse. I wish many more people like Ahluwalia are exposed by Mr.Sainath and people like him. Three cheers to Mr.Sainath.
Looking forward for the reply from Dr Ahluwalia. I'm sure he will have the justifications for all the queries put forward, after all he in planning commission. What I feel is these babus are totally disconnected from the reality and and do not understand the pain of common man. I feel there should be more investigative jounalism to expose all the corrupt babus. Excellent work Sainath.
I think Mr Sainath would focus on achievement or non achievement of these trips rather than focusing on persona of Dr Ahuluwalia. If some one else would have gone to perform similar function (assuming that it was necessary to go in first place) what would have been cost incurred by such person and whether cost actually incurred is disproportionate. It is certainly right of Mr Sainath to put up such report and I hope that some parliamentary committee would review but topic then must get closed post such review which does not seem to be the case with Indian media (classic being comparison with poverty line)
Let Hindu continue to this kind of important facts in its reporting! It has been dormant for many years.
Brilliant reply sir.
Excellent reply Sainath. Thanks
The problem with the likes of Mr. Ahluwalia, the Prime Minister, the Central Cabinet and rest of the political structure at the Centre as well as the States is that they only cater to the needs, nay, the whims and fancies of the corporate world. The entire political class along with the bureaucrats and other government officials are at the beck and call of national as well as international corporations. The political as well as the entire state machinery is only concerned about aiding the corporates to earn filthy profits, and at times by even killing people who stand in their way of avarice. It is anyone's guess that part of such murky and bloody earnings find their way to the pockets of those who go out of the way to ensure that laws of this country are changed or modified to suit the humour of their pay masters. The Ahluwalias of this country will only orbit the likes of Ambanis and Mittals and be happy with the tidbits thrown at them, which ofcourse also includes 7 star foriegn trips
Great reply.Thumbs Up for Sainath!!!
As long as there are newspapers like The Hindu and editors like Mr Sainath (and some other great journalists in The Hindu), the citizens of India can cling on to the hope that someday India could climb out of the cesspit that India seems to have fallen into!
Many Executives and higher officials in public sector/Govt take such official trips just to meet family members located at different places. If we analyse department wise inforamtion of the higher official's official trips and location of their spouses/family, this will be clear.
Good Sainath you have exactly explained the facts in the wake of the planning commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia rebuttal to your article based on RTI reply and logical anaylsis of the expenditure incurred in foreign trips by Ahluwalia! The Contention of Ahluwalia is regretable in view of his statement about expenditure of average Indians both rural and urban per day, submitted by the Planning commission in the Supreme Court, and his own expenditure on foreign trips per day. Is it not laughable ? Despite restriction of foreign trips in view of poor economy of the country, Ahluwalia undertook frequent trips, setting aside day-to-day important work in the Planning commission. His funny arguments that he had undertaken trips for other official purposes because he represents many organisations on behalf of the govt. Instead of owing explanation to people, Ahluwalia wants to white wash the truth through his rebuttal unfairly.
I do not even find any logic in Sainath's article. Being a deputy chairman of Planning commission, he is not expected to stay in 1 star hotel, travel by economy class.That is how the life is. There will always be economic diversity. By Sainath's logic, had he been US journalist, he would have asked Barack Obama to travel in economy class.
sainath's principal article was unambiguous. his reply to Ahluvalia's vague and unrepentant clarification is threadbare assertion of what the dy.chairman knows to be::SHEER WASTE OF POOR INDIANS' money:
I salute Hindu for carrying the story, MSA's callous reply, and Sainath's spirited response. These people running the government are failing our nation every day, every moment of the day. Do they realize what an assault they are on our collective sensibilities? The hoax of social commitment that the Congress put up during the UPA-1 is now exposed during the UPA-2. It is a schematic power game and protection of mutual interests that keep this bunch of smug politicians and bureaucrats lumped together. Our predicament is, we have no clear alternative in sight. We can only hope that some day the battering that they routinely carry out on the Indian public would be fittingly reciprocated!
Mr.ahluwalia Logic while answering was like a mediocre student answering to the teacher in fear to avoid punishment. Mr Sainath your counter point was execllent/Brilliant. I am sure Mr.ahluwalia, has the seen reply from Mr Sainath and put some more calrification, but certainly not the way in which he did earlier.
This is best phrase of reply
"Given the importance he claims for his sherpa work in G-20 and other
forums, which he admits is unconnected to the Planning Commission, why
remain in the Commission and paralyse its functioning by being absent so
often?"
Dr. Ahluwalia should set his priority.
These type of news and investigations are more important than giving donation to the poor people. If our government takes care of its expenditure then nation would automatically be rich. Please keep it up. Best of luck.
274 days abroad??! When does he do all the work on planning?...It may be like like me preparing an assignment paper in eleventh hour...
Dr.Ahluwalia, We all like to know how much you travel within the country meeting
poor people, a common man? We have seen you quite a lot of times meeting business leaders, listening very patiently to their concerns. And you end up in "creating a friendly and competitive environment and government policies for the growth of business in India".
Can you please tell us(I suggest you put this in your website) in the last 5 years, How may farmers have you met and interacted with them to understand why farming has become worthless in this country? How many daily wage laborers have you met, to understand why poor people from villages are migrating to Cities in search of livelihood (You talk of making villages self sustainable on the other hand)? How many villages have you visited to witness the hopeless state of the basic infrastructure in place, like schools, medical centers, irrigation, drinking water and sanitary ??
Finally,why don't you convince PM to rename PC to PCC(PC for Corporates)
Fully agree with Vineet G. P. Sainath deserves great respect. Fantastic news paper Hindu, thank you supporting sincere investgative journalism. People like Ahluwalia never feels the pain of the poor people.
Mr. Ahluwalia It is easy to advice ( plan) than to get adviced. With Mr. Sainath replies start planning to step into another set of boobytraps..
Mr. Ahluwalia
It is always easy to advice than to get adviced.
Start planning to step into another set of boobytraps!!!!
Excellent, pointed reply. It's not just about to challenging 'authority' of political class as most suitable eye wash has been devised by politicians to side step real issue deliberately but it's real real masterpiece of journalism Mr. Sainath has done here to prompt affluent to soul searching allover again.
P Sainath has again proved what is an active and neutral journalism. An excellent reply to Dr Ahluwalia's answer.
Since Montek should leave Planning Commisssion and Join PMO as
Officer on special Duty and can travel overseas frequently on PM's
pet projects.
There can be another reason for these high expenses: In May 2011, Mr
Strauss Kahn was arrested by NYPD. Lobbying had started for the top
job in the IMF and Montek was in the running. Even expensive hotel
rooms in New York and Business Class flights should not cost more than
$1000 a night, it is possible that this money was spent wooing various finance ministers into supporting Montek´s bid for the IMF Managing
Director job. By early July, Lagarde was nominated, and I am sure the
expenses may have come down after that.
Montek didnt get the job, but Rs 36 lakhs is peanuts to have spent
trying for something that could have resulted in the top IMF job for
the first time for India. Mr Sainath should see it in this context
and drop his diatribe against Montek.
This is an awesome work by The Hindu. I really appreciate the reporting.
Independent and scrutinizing. Kudos to your effort.
Alas, I don't know how to make our leaders understand that they are
public servants and not the rulers!!!
excellent reply..but I guess this time Mr.ahluwalia will choose Manmohan
singh's way of answering people.. mounam
It may be worthwhile for GOI to publish monthly data not only regarding travel
expenses of Ministers and officials of equivalent rank but also expenses incurred on their "security" and other perquisites, so that the people they serve may know and fully appreciate what they are paying for.
Why do the "servants" of the people of one of the poorest countries have to compete with the richest in matters of personal expenditure?
(It is bad enough that the rich in private sector business indulge in almost obscene ostentatious expenditure; but they do not claim to 'serve' any interests beyond their own!))
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