Officials going abroad will have lot of explaining to do now

FinMin has prepared a new detailed proforma which officials of any ministry or govt department will have to fill up for approval

Procedures for official foreign visits of bureaucrats have been made stringent as they will have to explain a host of things, including "benefits" of the trip and why the objectives cannot be achieved by the Indian missions, a junior person or through video conferencing.

The Finance Ministry has prepared a new detailed proforma which officials of any ministry or government department intending to travel abroad for official work will have to fill up for approval.

The 19-column proforma, issued by Expenditure department, asks a host of queries, including when did the particular official travel abroad earlier, what were the returns of that visit and why a junior officer cannot travel to achieve the objectives intended to be achieved by a senior officer.

While submitting the proforma, the department asked that it "may be ensured that all the points contained therein have been address/replied upon satisfactorily, failing which proposals will be returned unprocessed by D/o Expenditure".

Seeking the purpose of the visit, the proforma has a column which asks, "tasks proposed to be undertaken/ accomplished & outcome to be achieved by the proposed visit. Please indicate exact outcomes and tangible/non tangible benefits in quantified terms, wherever possible."

The Expenditure Department also asks for "full details of the foreign visits undertaken by the officer(s) during the last three calendar years...

"Whether deputations/delegations sent in the past for similar purpose? If so, the name of the officer deputed together with period of deputation.