Goa tourism delegates travel to US hits controversy

A civic social activist has charged a Goa Congress member and two others of impersonating tourism officials to participate in a road show in US, in February-March.

Henry Araujo, a resident of Loutolim in his written complaint to the US Ambassador, New Delhi alleged that the trio obtained visa from Mumbai Consulate through wrong means to travel to the US.

The three persons identified as Goa Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Vijay Sardesai, Mulla Akbar and Atmaram Kale are accused for having forged tourism director Swapnil Naik?s signature to obtain relevant documents for the US travel.

?They produced fake letter, forging the signature of the Goa director of tourism, showing them as official delegates, approved by the Government of Goa for attending the road show in Los Angeles, San Francisco in US from February 21 to March 2, 2011,? Araujo?s complaint copy reads.

Whereas, he stated, Goa government had appointed a three-member delegation led by Tourism Minister Nilkant Halankar and other members including Chief Secretary Sanjay Shrivastava and tourism director Swapnil Naik to conduct the road show in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas.

Naik, when contacted, confessed that the three persons were not a part of the official delegation approved by the state government. But, he said, the three unauthorized persons traveled at their own cost. ?They were accompanying the minister. I do not recall issuing any letter for the trio by the department,? he added.

The minister however refrained himself from commenting about the presence of the three unauthorized persons with him.

Araujo has further accused the delegation of spending 300 times more than the government?s sanction amount during their foreign trip.