Once again, a team made up mostly of politicians from Goa will be leaving for the Cannes film festival. According to information from the Entertainment Society of Goa, which organises the International Film Festival of India, the government will be spending lakhs of rupees on travelling and other facilities for the team.
Sources said the chief secretary was to be in the group but his name was cancelled in favour of an NCP politician at the last moment. Following this, irked bureaucrats delayed the file and sent it to the Centre for only on Tuesday. Though the team was to leave on Friday, the Centre’s approval had not come in till late Thursday.
This is the fourth year that a Goa delegation will be going to Cannes. According to ESG insiders the state spends lakhs of rupees on these tours annually. Last year the ESG shelled out Rs six to seven lakh on the tour, but the previous two years saw a much larger expenditure, to the tune of approximately Rs 15 to 20 lakh. “Year 2005 and 2006 was a total holiday tour for the members with huge bills to be paid by ESG and this year as more politicians are joining the tour the expenditure is expected to be higher,” commented an executive member of the ESG. The air ticket to Cannes itself costs approximately Rs. 35,000 to Rs. 40,000.
“Some officials visit Cannes every year as part of the delegation and purely waste government funds,” a member of the ESG said. Some members of the Cannes study team last year are no longer with the ESG. Sources also informed that a new CEO is taking over the ESG within one month but he is not a member of the tour.
Courtesy: TOI
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[…] Goa Blog - Goa India wrote an interesting post today on Goa netas on Cannes junketHere’s a quick excerptGoa netas on Cannes junket May 16, 2008 – 6:08 pm Once again, a team made up mostly of politicians from Goa will be leaving for the Cannes film festival. According to information from the Entertainment Society of Goa, which organises the International Film Festival of India, the government will be spending lakhs of rupees on travelling and other facilities for the team. Sources said the chief secretary was to be in the group but his name was cancelled in favour of an NCP politician at the las […]