Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 23 Keralam Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Wednesday declined to disclose who sponsored his recent chartered flight to rain-hit Malappuram, saying no government money was spent on the journey and that he would continue to use such services when required.
Under fire from the Opposition, the CM defended foreign trips by his Cabinet colleagues, saying there was nothing wrong with individuals or organisations arranging their tickets for official programmes as such travel involved no expense to the state exchequer.
Addressing a press conference after the weekly Cabinet meeting, Satheesan repeatedly declined to disclose the identity of the person who arranged the private chartered flight, which had drawn criticism from the Opposition.
Satheesan said the visit was necessitated by the serious situation in the northern district and that he would have faced criticism had he not gone there.
“If I had not gone, the news would have been that the CM did not even visit despite six people dying. There was no other way to go. An acquaintance arranged the aircraft. What is wrong with that?” he asked.
He said the aircraft was arranged by a Malayali and maintained that he would undertake similar journeys again if required.
Satheesan referred to former chief ministers Pinarayi Vijayan and Oommen Chandy, saying they too had travelled in aircraft arranged by private individuals.
“Pinarayi Vijayan has used aircraft arranged by private individuals and private helicopters several times. Did anyone reveal their names then?” he asked.
He said chief ministers across the country travelled in private aircraft and helicopters, apart from official aircraft and helicopters, and maintained that providing an aircraft to a chief minister during an emergency did not mean the person or organisation concerned would later seek any favour.
“Those who arrange aircraft are not people who will come tomorrow seeking a favour. If anyone comes asking for such a favour, the government here is not one that will provide it,” he said.
He said the names of those who had arranged aircraft for previous chief ministers had not been sought and there was no reason to drag their names into the controversy.
Satheesan, however, made it clear that money from the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund would not be used for air travel.
“People contribute to the Distress Relief Fund to help the poor. We will not undertake air travel using money from the disaster relief fund,” he said.
On the agreement entered into by the previous government for a rented helicopter service, Satheesan said the contract with the company expired on September 19, and a decision on renewing it would be taken after examining the requirement and cost.
Defending the overseas visits of ministers, Satheesan said he had himself asked them to travel and participate in various programmes to understand developments in other countries and bring back ideas that could be implemented in Keralam.
“When applications for foreign travel come before me, we look at whether there is any expenditure involved. If there is no expenditure, what is the problem?” he asked.
He said ministers travelling at the expense of organisations was not a new practice and that more than 1,000 expatriate Malayalee organisations were operating in the UAE alone.
“Especially when a new government has come to power, organisations would want the CM and ministers to participate in their programmes. They themselves will buy the tickets,” he said.
Satheesan said there was nothing wrong with friends or organisations buying tickets for ministers and indicated that such trips had also taken place during the tenure of the previous regime.
“I have the figures of such previous trips with me, but I am not going to disclose them. There is no need to name or drag anyone into this,” he said.
On the controversy over ministers’ vehicles, Satheesan said the government had earlier issued a white paper highlighting the poor financial condition of the state and had therefore initially decided against purchasing new vehicles.
He said the situation now required a review, as many ministers were still using vehicles purchased years ago or cars used by ministers in the previous government.
He said purchasing new vehicles for ministers and chief ministers would not by itself damage the state’s financial position, adding that the Finance department had imposed restrictions to signal fiscal discipline and had indicated that these could be changed as the financial situation improved.
“Can ministers be left stranded on the road while travelling?” he asked.
Defending Local Self-Government Minister K M Shaji’s use of a friend’s ultra-luxury vehicle, Satheesan said there was nothing wrong with the minister using another vehicle as his official vehicle was around 10 years old and frequently broke down.
He said ministers and chief ministers had used vehicles other than their officially allotted ones in the past as well.
The Opposition LDF criticised the UDF government and Satheesan over the controversies and alleged that such acts amounted to a violation of the oath of office.
While CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan alleged that the UDF government had become a “sponsored government”, CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam alleged that Satheesan had become a “puppet in the hands of the ultra-rich.”
He alleged that “unknown financial powers” were sponsoring the aircraft and helicopter used by the CM.
(PTI News)
