Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia's seven-year tenure has seen him spending every ninth day abroad. Since taking office in June 2004, he has made 42 official foreign trips and spent 274 working days-excluding travel time-abroad till January 2011.

According to information provided by the Planning Commission to India Today under the Right to Information Act (RTI), 23 of his 42 trips have been to the United States while other destinations include the UK, Muscat, Dubai, Ethiopia, Australia, South Korea, Canada, Morocco, Bahrain, Singapore, Japan and China. His frequent visits to the US tie in with his pro-US image among bureaucrats. His first official foreign trip was to the UK and the US in September 2004 and his latest, according to the information, was to Davos, Switzerland from January 24 to January 30. While the details of his personal travel are sketchy, the information shows that he spent the second half of July 2004 in the UK and three days in Italy in May 2009.

The exact expenditure incurred on any minister's (Ahluwalia avails Cabinet rank) official travel is difficult to calculate, but going by the Planning Commission's replies (three replies have contradictory figures; we have taken the lowest), he has spent Rs 2.34 crore on these trips. For instance, the Commission's response dated March 17, 2008 states that Ahluwalia visited the US and the UK during April 18-28, 2006 and spent Rs 11.68 lakh while the reply dated April 26, 2011 shows that the same trip cost Rs 6.79 lakh. Besides, it is not clear whether the figures include the expenses incurred by Indian embassies abroad on frills such as hiring limousines. The actual costs could actually be a lot higher.

What impact do these trips have on the Planning Commission? According to sources, most of Ahluwalia's foreign trips have nothing to do with the Commission's work. His globe-trotting has affected its functioning though. The approach paper for the 12th Five-Year Plan, which was supposed to be ready by 2010-end, is not yet ready. On the eve of the full Commission meeting organised last month to discuss the approach paper, Ahluwalia told reporters: "We are actually working on the approach paper. It should be ready in a month or so." Sources say that the paper will be ready only in July. The paper is approved by the full Planning Commission chaired by the prime minister. It is then sent for Cabinet approval, prior to being placed before the National Development Council, which has to clear it for implementation. To ensure national consensus and proper implementation of programmes to be envisaged during the next Plan period, the Commission plans to send the paper to all state chief ministers and Central ministries and departments for their views.

This means, the implementation of the 12th Plan, which should have kicked off from April 1, 2012, will be delayed. State plans, which should be discussed and approved in January-February every year, have also been impacted. Only nine state governments' plans were discussed and approved till March, while plans of several states are yet to be discussed.

To know his opinion on the foreign trips, india today got in touch with Ahluwalia's office on e-mail and phone. Despite repeated reminders, the response was: "Your request is with the boss and he is yet to respond."

Going by the definition of the role of the Commission written on its website-"Making an assessment of all resources of the country, augmenting deficient resources, formulating plans for the most effective and balanced utilisation of resources and determining priorities"-it is debatable whether Ahluwalia has got his priorities right.