Karnataka MLAs on global study tours ’copying reports’ from internet

mangaloretoday.com

Bangalore, Jan 04, 2014: The Congress government in Karnataka has drawn a lot of flak for its MLAs going on global study tours ignoring burning local issues, including a fierce drought the state faced this year.

Their foreign junkets have continued at the taxpayer’s expense year after year, despite criticism from political parties and media.

 

And now, an expose by a news channel has revealed that the MLAs returning from junkets to fancy destinations have been copying and pasting text from the internet in their so-called reports from study tours.

The tour in question covered Japan, China, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Reacting on the report the MLAs filed after returning from these locations, Karnataka Legislative Assembly Speaker admitted that the report had nothing about public enterprises in these countries.

Last week, under severe criticism, a Karnataka legislature committee had insisted it would go ahead with the visit to Brazil, Argentina and Peru with chief minister Siddaramaiah also defending their tour.

As the jaunt by a contingent of about 18 MLAs planned for January stirred up a controversy, Siddaramaiah told reporters the trip was decided by the legislature committee and it was not as if they were going on the foreign tour this year for the first time. "Why are you making it a big issue?" Siddaramaiah asked reporters.

"It is the legislature committee which decides and they don’t come to us (the government)," he added.

Unperturbed by the controversy, Mallikayya Gutedar, who heads the legislature’s estimates committee, said they had decided to go ahead with their trip, whose schedule would be decided depending on the legislature session next month.

"We are not committing a big crime...don’t you send school children on vacation...similarly MPs and MLAs are being sent through the legislature committees...", he told reporters.  

Karnataka’s MLAs have been going on foreign junkets on the taxpayer’s money for the last five years. Under fire CM Siddaramaiah has now put a full stop to more tours until better guidelines can be framed.