BHUBANESWAR: A day after a delegation led by IT Minister Tusharkanti Behera visited the United States of America to scout for a potential investor in the field of electronics and information technology, the BJP hit out at the state government for spending money extravagantly on foreign tours.
Questioning the outcome of the visits to countries like Italy, Japan, Israel, UAE and UK, state BJP spokesperson Jatin Mohanty said the government must inform people about the number of investments it succeeded to bring from these countries so far.
Describing all foreign tours as pleasure trips in the name of promoting business interest of the state, Mohanty said a few leaders and officers were enjoying holidays with the taxpayers’ money.In the last three years, Mohanty said several teams visited foreign countries. Meetings were arranged at luxurious hotels and false statements issued on possible investment intents. The money spent on these activities is the poor people’s money, he claimed.
If the government is so serious on attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), it should issue a white paper on how much money it has spent on such visits and how much investment the state has received, the BJP spokesperson added.