Guidelines Regarding Foreign Travel Of Ministers And State Government Officials 

(Procedure & Contact Persons)  

 

Guidelines regarding foreign travel of Ministers and State Government officials

 

  1. All proposals for visits of Ministers of State Governments abroad in their official capacity or otherwise sent by the State Government are to be addressed to :
  1. Government of India insists that at least 3 week's time should be given to the various Ministries of the Government of India to consider the proposals for foreign visits.  Government of India’s approval is required for both, official and private visits of the State Ministers.  For all visits of Ministers, the approval of the Finance Minister and for Chief Minister, the approval of Prime Minister is obtained by the Department of Economic Affairs after the political clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs and the administrative approval from the concerned line Ministry.  The Cabinet Secretariat had vide its circular dated 27th April, 1998 had observed that all proposals for foreign deputation requiring clearance of the Finance Minister, need to be submitted at least a fortnight before the visit.  Proposals for obtaining clearances must be sent to Government of India well in advance of the scheduled date of departure.  The Government of India has clearly laid down that the proposals of visits of composite delegations consisting of Ministers / officials must be submitted together and processed together rather than being submitted in piece-meal. 
  2. The Government of India has also directed that generally no government functionary should accept hospitality from any organization during his/her visits abroad.  Visits of all Government officials going abroad for non-project related work like attending workshops, seminars, study tours etc. require the approval of the Government of India.  In such cases, the proposal is first referred to the administrative Ministry and after that for political clearance to the Ministry of External Affairs.  Only thereafter, the Ministry of Finance, (Department of Economic Affairs) gives its clearance.  If the visit is for longer than two weeks, the clearance of the Cadre Controlling Authority is also required, which   is the Department of Personnel in case of IAS officers, the Ministry of Home Affairs in case of IPS officers and Ministry of Environment and Forest in case of IFS officers. 
  3. In case of the official delegations their composition and background of the members may be indicated.
  4. The work proposed to be transacted in each place of visit together with detailed itinerary of the visit may be indicated. Specifically where official meetings are to take place with functionaries of foreign Governments, copies of the invitation letters from the agencies and details of who would be bearing the expenditure of the visit are to be submitted along with the proposal.
  5. On receipt of the recommendations from the different concerned Ministries, EC Division, Department of Economic affairs will consolidate the case and issue final orders to go abroad, the places to be visited and duration of visit at each place.
  6. Department of Economic Affairs will thereafter issue instructions to the Reserve Bank of India for release of foreign exchange towards personal incidentals. Simultaneously, Ministry of External Affairs would be advised to issue instructions to the Missions for release of Daily Allowance and other allowances as per rates prevalent in the country of visit and also for extending appropriate courtesies to the official delegations. 
  7. In cases where foreign hospitality is involved, including travel expenses, prior clearance of the Ministry of Home Affairs, FCRA Division, Hospitality Section is required before any acceptance is conveyed. A separate reference in the prescribed form FC-2 indicating the source from which the travel and stay expenses are proposed to be met, should be made directly to that Ministry well in time.

CONCERNED OFFICERS

1. EC Division, Ministry of Finance
Department of   Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, North Block, New Delhi
Deputy Secretary, Tel: 23092222, 23014413

Section Officer, Tel: 23093228, Fax: 23092477

 

2.  Coordination Division, Ministry of External Affairs
 South Block, New Delhi
 Joint Secretary, Tel: 23092987

 Under Secretary, Tel: 23013902 Fax: 23010727

 

3.  FCRA-Division, Hospitality Section, Ministry of Home Affairs.
Room No. 8, Jaisalmer House, 26, Man Singh Road, New Delhi
Shri S. Nagarajan, Under Secretary, Tel: 23071170