Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 21 (SocialNews.XYZ) The controversy over the foreign trips of ministers in the four-month-old V.D. Satheesan government has opened up a wider debate about the line between private hospitality and public office, with the Chief Minister’s chartered flight and a minister’s use of a friend’s luxury car adding to the discussion.
Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala was the first to come under scrutiny after travelling to the US with his family. He later clarified that the trip was not at government expense but was paid for by the organisers of the events he attended. He said he had travelled to Chicago to attend the wedding of the son of a longtime associate.
Sports Minister O.J. Jeneesh has now offered a similar defence of his overseas trips. He said there was no reason to turn private travel by ministers into a controversy and maintained that his trips did not involve a waste of taxpayers’ money.
He added that the organisations that invited him had covered the travel expenses.
The issue, however, goes beyond who pays the airfare. Ministers, by virtue of their office, inevitably have access to people and organisations seeking government decisions, assistance or influence.
Accepting hospitality from private individuals or organisations can therefore raise questions of propriety even when there is no direct cost to the exchequer.
The controversy over Local Self-Government Minister K.M. Shaji’s use of a friend’s Range Rover has sharpened that question. Shaji said he had obtained the luxury vehicle with the necessary permissions and had used it occasionally even before becoming a minister. He challenged the media to examine his actions.
The issue has now reached Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan. Satheesan travelled to Malappuram on Monday in a chartered aircraft brought from Bengaluru after the police helicopter contract expired.
SFI state secretary P.S. Sanjeev has questioned the acceptance of such private sponsorship, calling it a serious violation of the oath of office.
Taken together, the episodes have shifted the debate from the simple question of who paid for a trip or vehicle to the larger issue of how those with money, connections and interests interact with those holding political power.
Source: IANS
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