Around Tk 20 million sought for 12-day foreign tour of 18-member team

The public administration ministry has demanded a surprising amount of around Tk 20 million for a 12-day foreign tour of an 18-member team.

The panel on the ministry, in a meeting on Wednesday, discussed the planned tour of its members and the officials of the ministry to Vietnam and China.

The purpose of the tour was not mentioned in the minutes of the meeting, a copy of which is now available with bdnews24.com.

However, in reply to a query of bdnews24.com, panel chief HN Ashequr Rahman said the purpose of the tour was ‘enrichment’.

“There is nothing to be talked about it," he said.

The other members of the panel are Public Administration Minister Syed Ashraful Islam, State Minister Begum Ismat Ara Sadique, ABM Fazle Karim Chowdhury, RAM Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury, Md Abdur Rahman, Sukumar Ranjan Ghosh, and Mohd Abdullah.

The public administration ministry has already sent a letter to the finance ministry seeking the money.

It has also asked the Bangladesh embassies in China and Vietnam to report on the arrangements related to visitors' hotel, transport, interpreter, and other expenses for the visit expected to begin on Sept 6.

The panel members and officials expressed eagerness to visit Vietnam capital Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Ha Long Bay from Sept 13 to 18.

The Bangladesh embassy in China, however, proposed to drop Shanghai from the tour plan and include Kunming City instead, since they did not have any office at Shanghai.

The committee also sought information on 'performance-based evaluation' system for promoting officials.

It further said a list of 'officials, who were deprived of promotions', would be provided after collecting 'proper information'.