Non-official trips of Modi: inconsistencies in IAF’s data under RTI

New Delhi: A major discrepancy has been noticed in the data of non-official trips made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the in past five years. Narendra Modi travelled 240 times for non-official purposes, but BJP paid IAF just 1.4 Cr rupees for this.

This came to light in  a reply given by IAF to a question raised though an RTI enquiry. As per the rules, people or organizations responsible for the prime minister's programmes should foot the bill for the flights.  In March 2018 the norms were revised with commercial fares as the basis. 

BJP paid just  Rs 744 for a Balangir-Patharchera trip by Modi on January 15, 2019. This route in Balangir district of Odisha is not commercially linked.

IAF did not clarify the type of aircraft used and time of travel in the question raised before IAF under RTI.

But IAF says that Prime Minister uses only Boeing Business Jet and MI-17 helicopter for his travel.  As per the updated rates of 2018 Boeing Business Jet costs Rs 14.7 lakh per hour and MI-17 costs Rs 4.3 lakh  per hour of travelling.

IAF charged just 845 rupees for ‘Chandigarh-Shimla-Annadale-Chandigarh’ travel by Modi on 27 April 2017. The commercial flight rate for a one-way ticket from Chandigarh to Shimla is between Rs 2,500 and Rs 5,000.  But there is no clarity about on what criteriathe ticket charges of non-official trips of Modi are calculated.

Most of the travels by Modi were for the election campaigns of BJP in legislative assembly elections in various states.