No money to pay salaries but GHMC sends team on study tour to Kerala
HYDERABAD: At a time when the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is reeling under severe financial crisis and finding it difficult to even pay salaries to its employees, the civic body is spending the taxpayers money on sending its Standing Committee members on a “study tour” to Kerala.
Of the 15 members that comprise the Standing Committee, over 10 members are touring Kerala, visiting places like Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Munnar, Thekkady and Alleppey. The GHMC will incur an expenditure of over Rs 1 lakh on each of these members and this includes air fare, accommodation, food and other facilities.
‘’What’s the rationale behind sending these members on a study tour. And why so much secrecy around this tour. We fail to understand,” some officials when contacted by the TNIE.“These members are supposed study the best practices being adopted by Kerala in sanitation, road works and other subjects suitable for Hyderabad. We are surprised at the choice of destinations. Only god knows if such trips are of any help in improving the conditions and further development of Hyderabad,” they said.
It is learnt that these Standing Committee members left for Kerala on October 13 and likely return to the city on Wednesday night. “There won’t any objections if the Standing Committee members and corporators study the best practices of other corporations during their study tours. However, it is worth mentioning that the previous study tours, including international trips, served no purpose,” the officials lamented. The same officials also expressed doubts whether prior permission, which is mandatory, was obtained before these Standing Committee members embarked on a tour of Kerala.