"Employees will be able to
avail LTC to visit some SAARC countries. A proposal in this regard is being
finalised by the government," Union Minister Jitendra Singh told .
LTC allows grant of leave
and ticket reimbursement to eligible central government employees.
The decision has been taken
to promote people-to-people contact and boost tourism among the SAARC regions,
he said.
"The government has been
taking many steps to promote trade and travel. This is one of such steps to
further boost ties among SAARC nations," said Singh, Minister of State for
Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
The South Asian Association
for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a group of eight nations comprising
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and
India.
Officials in the Personnel
Ministry said the LTC facility will not be available for visiting Pakistan and
few other nations due to security concerns.
The draft for new LTC rules
is in initial stage and it will be finalised after inter-ministerial
consultations, they said.
"One of the major decisions
taken by the Narendra Modi government soon after it took over was to extend the
facility of conversion of 'home town' LTC to visit states of Jammu &
Kashmir, northeastern region and Union Territory of Andaman & Nicobar for a
further period of two years up to September 25, 2016," the Minister
said.
The Personnel Ministry has
been regularly reviewing LTC rules to allow government employees to visit
unexplored places like northeast. The ministry is also considering allowing
government servants not entitled to travel by air to fly in economy
class.
The ministry has of late
put in place measures to check misuse of LTC facility. CBI is probing fake
travel bills scam (LTC scam) allegedly involving certain government employees
and present and former Members of Parliament.
"All the ministries or
departments are advised to bring it to the notice of all their employees that
any misuse of LTC will be viewed seriously and the employees will be liable for
appropriate action under the rules.
"In order to keep a check
on any kind of misuse of LTC, ministries or departments are advised to randomly
get some of the air tickets submitted by the officials verified from the
airlines concerned with regard to the actual cost of air travel vis-a-vis the
cost indicated on the air tickets submitted by the officials," according to an
order issued by the Personnel Ministry.
Source
: The Economic Times
