PM Modi’s foreign visits have often generated divided opinions with one set of people calling it important for diplomatic relations while others casting doubts on the futility of the expenses incurred on these visits.
The Quint came across one such post on social media, which hits out at the expenses made on taxpayers’ money. However, as it stands, it quotes wrong figures.
CLAIM
A Facebook page I Support Ravish Kumar put up the post claiming that in his ‘four years’ of tenure, the prime minister made 41 trips to 52 countries, and spent more than Rs 355 crore on them.
TRUE OR FALSE
The claim is false as the expense quoted in the post is wrong.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
According to data provided in the Rajya Sabha by Minister of State of External Affairs VK Singh, till December 2018, the prime minister had visited 53 countries in 48 trips.
Indeed, if the data is considered only for the first four years, as claimed in the post, the number of trips is much lower.
As far as the expenses are concerned, the post errs on the other side, as it quotes a number much lesser than the actual expenses.
As per the data furnished by the External Affairs ministry, the total expenses incurred in PM’s foreign visits is Rs 2,021.65 crore. This includes chartered flight charges, aircraft maintenance charges and hotline charges.
In this case too, if the data is considered for the first four years, the total expense comes out to be Rs 1,566.58 crore, nearly four times the Rs 355.30 crore, claimed in the post.
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