‘CAN’T PUT A VALUE ON BENEFITS OF PM’S VISITS’

The ‘benefits’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign trips can’t be quantified, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) told the Central Information Commission after an RTI applicant wanted to know the same.

The PMO also said that such information was not part of any official records but details of his trips and related expenses were available in the public domain.

NEW DELHI: The ‘benefits’ of PM Narendra Modi’s foreign trips can’t be quantified, the PMO told the Central Information Commission (CIC) after an RTI applicant sought to know the same.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) also said such information was not part of any official records but details of Modi’s trips and related expenses were available in the public domain. While Modi’s foreign trips have often stirred controversies, the PMO’s reply this time related to an RTI application filed by Kritiwas Mandal who, in June 2016, sought to know the details of Modi’s foreign visits, the money and time spent by him and the benefits.

Mandal approached the CIC, India’s information watchdog, to complain that the PMO’s reply was incomplete as he had not received information about the hours spent by Modi on foreign visits and the benefits. He also did not get an answer about the fund from which the expenses were incurred.

As the CIC called for a hearing on October 10, the PMO said it did not keep records of the queries. “The respondent (PMO) stated that the benefit of foreign visits cannot be quantified and is not available in their record. Number of hours spent on visit is not on record,” chief information commissioner Radha Krishna Mathur noted.