No drought' of joy trips for Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala

Bengaluru: The state may be reeling under a severe drought, but this has not stopped Governor Vajubhai Vala from spending a whopping Rs 3 crore on heli-hopping to various destinations and on special flights for both official and personal reasons in a mere 20 months.

Of the 37 trips he has made by air, his visit to Gujarat on August 18 last year to pay his last respects to a paramapujya swamiji proved to be the most expensive as it cost the state government Rs 14.23 lakh. He spent another Rs 9.7 lakh the same month to participate in a temple programme in Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh, going by documents received by RTI activist, Narasimha Murthy, who shared them with Deccan Chronicle.

The documents reveal that the Governor  travelled for  46 days between October 4, 2014 and August 30, 2016, using JMP air charters for his trips.

But the information was not easy to come by, claims the activist, who was reportedly denied it by the Governor’s office and had to write to the office of President to get it.

“The Governor’s office refused to give the information saying it would be subjudice as a case was pending in the Supreme Court between former Goa Governor, SC Zameer and Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar,” he said,  adding that after he approached the President, his application was forwarded to the state Home department and then the Chief Secretary. The information was finally provided by the Department of Administration and Reforms (DPAR) on December 30, 2016.