MUMBAI: Even as the centre and state government roll out austerity measures, a five-member delegation led by chief economic advisor to the chief minister, Pravin Pardeshi, has flown to Denmark on a study tour. The expenses may be borne by the Danish government, but the optics are unmistakable – austerity, it appears, has its exceptions.
Pravin Pardeshi, chief economic advisor to the chief minister, is leading the delegation.
As soon as the prime minister urged citizens and state governments to tighten their belts a week ago, in light of the economic fallout of the West Asia war, the Maharashtra government moved swiftly to fall in line. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced the cancellation of foreign tours and urged ministers and bureaucrats to conduct official meetings online to cut fuel consumption, one of the immediate casualties of the conflict.
Twenty two Maharashtra legislators forfeited a study tour to Japan, cultural affairs minister Ashish Shelar cancelled a visit to Cannes, and tourism minister Shambhuraj Desai cancelled a family tour to Europe.
But a ‘Technical Exposure Visit’ by a five-member delegation led by Pardeshi has made it past the austerity net. The tour was cleared by the central government on Thursday, just 48 hours before the delegation flew out to Denmark.
Turns out the week-long tour, focused on ‘Climate-Smart Water Infrastructure’, had been cleared weeks ago. However, after the austerity guidelines kicked in, the state government told the Danish embassy it wanted to “pause” the visit, said Vikalp Gupta, commercial advisor for water & environment with Denmark embassy. The embassy then sought special approval from the central government, after which the Maharashtra government signed off on the visit on Friday, he said.
“The visit has been in preparation for over six months, with very senior Danish water experts and institutions committing their time and expertise to this engagement. While the Maharashtra Government had initially paused the visit in line with the Government of India’s austerity guidelines, the Embassy sought special approval from the Government of India, given the significant non-refundable commitments, ensuring this important engagement on water management could proceed for the benefit of both nations,” Gupta said in a statement to HT.
The five-member delegation headed to Denmark includes Pravin Pardeshi, chief economic advisor to the chief minister and CEO of state-government think tank MITRA; ASR Naik, member-secretary, Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran; Sachin Ombase, Solapur municipal commissioner; Ranjita Chakote, standing committee chairperson, Solapur Municipal Corporation; and Prajakta Admane, chairperson, Umred Municipal Council.
The group from Maharashtra will join delegations from Karnataka and Uttarakhand.
Fadnavis said the tour has been sponsored by the Denmark government and cleared by the central government. “It’s a totally Denmark-sponsored tour, and the central government has given it clearance,” he said.