Facing the heat, Chandigarh mayor calls off study tour

Amid public outcry and media scrutiny, Chandigarh mayor Rajesh Kalia called off the municipal corporation’s study tour to Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) four days ahead of the planned departure.

HT in a series of reports highlighted how the tour was poorly planned and even UT adviser Manoj Parida gave his nod to the mayor’s proposal without seeking the detailed agenda for the five-day junket.

While ₹20 lakh had been sanctioned already, the total expenditure on the tour was expected to touch ₹30 lakh due to expensive flight tickets in view of the New Year rush and luxurious stay planned for councillors.

Of the 35 elected and nominated councillors, as many as 15 had given their consent for the tour despite the fact that their predecessors had already visited Kerala once in 2010. But no report of the trip was prepared then, raising a question mark on the intent and seriousness of these tours.

Earlier, the mayor had dropped Kolkata from the original itinerary after he came under pressure following his statement that councillors would study smart city projects there, overlooking the fact that it was never a part of the Centre’s 100 smart cities list.

Kalia’s reasoning

On Tuesday, Kalia said the tour has been called off altogether as he and other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillors are busy with the upcoming elections for the party’s Chandigarh unit president. He also cited a “personal tragedy” in his family.

However, sources within the party said Kalia backed out as he could not justify the trip’s mandate, having frequently changed his statement on what councillors would be do during the five-day tour.

The mayor had also faced a major embarrassment after Congress councillors boycotted the trip and continuously raised the demand to cancel it. Many of his party councillors had refused to give their consent as well.

After thinking of postponing the trip, he finally called it off following discussion with party councillors and senior MC officials, said sources.

‘Wastage of public money’

The MC has so far spent ₹2.5 crore on study tours since 2006. In its 2016 report, the comptroller and auditor general of India had rapped the civic body for wasting money on such junkets.

Meanwhile, local resident welfare associations are seeking a policy to prevent such wastage of public money.

Vinod Vashisht, convener, City Forum of Residents’ Welfare Organisations, said: “The MC spends a huge amount of money on these tours, but they are of no use. The UT administrator must frame a policy, specifying dos and don’ts for such tours and manner in which they should be approved. It should not be left to the discretion of officials.”

Baljinder Bittu, president, Federation of Sector Welfare Associations of Chandigarh, said rules should be framed not only for councillors, but for bureaucrats who frequently travel abroad too.

“The administration must ensure that a proper agenda is prepared before councillors leave for tours, and post each tour, reports should be tabled in the General House and also made available in public domain for people to see what changes these tours propose to make in the city,” he said.