Bills worth Rs 119 crore pending towards cash-strapped Air India, generated for some foreign visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have been cleared against the back drop of a long battle by a retired naval officer using the RTI Act. RTI applicant Commodore (retd) Lokesh Batra said that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on January 30 uploaded on its website the details of bills worth about Rs 119.70 crore cleared for eight trips, which were shown pending or under process since last year. The loss of public money can add to the burden of tax-payers,” Mathur said. The PMO has claimed on its website that bills for trips -- Japan, Laos, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya and Uzbekistan -- have not been received while it shows that bills are under process for the four visits. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has undertaken 27 visits abroad since assuming the office on May 26, 2014, according to the PMO website.

Source: Hindustan Times January 31, 2017 16:43 UTC