Information on Bhagwant Mann's air travel expenses denied due to “security” reasons

Chandigarh: The recent Right to Information (RTI) applications seeking details of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s air travel expenses have been denied due to “security” reasons.

The last time the state had responded to the RTI query on this issue was in the month of April this year when it was revealed by the department of civil aviation that it received the bills to the tune of Rs. 44.85 Lakh on the pretext of aircraft hired to ferry Mann to Gujarat between April 1 and April 3.

During these three days, he along with AAP national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal held a road show in Ahmedabad and also participated in the party's public meetings.  

RTI reply, filed by Bathinda-based Harmilap Singh Grewal, further revealed that Mann too had travelled to neighbouring Himachal Pradesh on April 6, where, as per media reports, he held a road show along with Kejriwal in Mandi.

“For that visit, he used a Punjab government-owned helicopter. But the expenses incurred on the individual visit could not be ascertained,” the department added.

In a separate RTI filed by Bathinda-based resident Sanjeev Goyal, Punjab spends close to 8 Lakh per month only on the maintenance of the helicopter it purchased for Rs 38 crore during SAD-BJP rule in 2016. 

In March this year, expenditure on the state-owned helicopter was Rs 73 Lakh of which Rs 55 was spent between March 15 and March 19. 

Mann had taken oath as Chief Minister on March 16.

Following his Gujarat and Himachal visit, Mann travelled to Himachal as many as five times on June 11, July 12, August 25, August 31 and September 9.

Two different RTIs - filed by journalist Ashwani Chawla and RTI activist Manik Goyal - sought Mann's travel expenses details of visits to other states ever since he took over as chief minister in March.  

Manik’s RTI was filed in June while Ashwani filed it in the month of July. But the state response to these RTs last month in August stated that keeping in view the security concerns of the chief minister under section 24 (4) of RTI act, 2005, the information concerned can’t be provided.

Manik, who has already filed an appeal before higher authorities against the reply, told NewsDrum that this was nothing but a delay tactic and denial of information.

He said most of Mann’s visits to other states were restricted to poll-bound states of Himachal and Gujarat, which were strictly for election purposes.

 “Why should hard earned money of people of Punjab be used for election activities of AAP in other states,” he added.

Harmilap Singh Grewal, a former AAP leader, too said that AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal had a big role to play along with other activists in the enactment of the RTI act in 2005.

“But look at how things change when one gets power. His own party in Punjab is now subverting the very act for which he once fought,” said Grewal, adding, “How does sharing of expenditure details of Punjab CM’s election-related meetings in Himachal or Gujarat compromise his security?

He said that the purpose of these RTIs was not to compromise CM’s security but to seek transparency and accountability so that public money is used for the right cause. 

AAP’s Punjab spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang could not be reached for comments.

Public exchequer misuse must be stopped: former AAP MLA

AAP’s former MLA and senior journalist Kanwar Sandhu told NewsDrum that Mann is not the first chief minister to use state resources for the party's political functions.

The previous chief ministers had even worse track records. For instance, as per RTI information in 2017, former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his family spent over Rs 100 crore on chartered flights during his 10-year tenure. Many of these flights were taken even for personal use. 

Similarly, former Congress chief ministers – Captain Amarinder Singh and Charanjit Singh Channi – too had wasted public money on air travels, he said.

Sandhu said in 2015, Bronwyn Bishop, speaker of the House of Representatives in Australia had to resign after it was revealed that she had spent more than USD 5,000 chartering a helicopter to attend her party’s fundraiser function.

“Sadly the standard of professional ethics and morality is very low in our politics. The way forward is that we must have a policy in place so that chief ministers can’t be able to use the state resources for personal visits or party functions,” said Sandhu.

He said if a political party wants its chief minister to campaign for the party, it must fund his travelling and other expenditure from its own pocket rather than putting the burden on the state exchequer.

He said one has no problem if the CM spends state resources for carrying out his official duties. But the problem starts when purpose dilutes, for which there is a need for safeguards and accountability mechanisms to prevent these kinds of wasteful expenditures.