Governor violates guidelines: Spends 143 days outside Kerala incurring huge travel expense

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan has reportedly violated the guidelines regarding minimum number of days that have to be spent in the state and for exceeding travel expense. 

Governors are expected to spend at least 25 days in a month in their respective states where they are appointed. However, Arif Mohammed Khan was outside Kerala for 20 days in November 2022 and spent 143 days this year travelling. Rs 11.63 lakh was incurred from the state’s treasury for the governor’s travel expenditure in 2022. It was Rs 5.34 lakh in 2021. A considerable amount has been spent on travelling if the expenses of the security officials are also included in the available data. 

The Rashtrapathi Bhavan had intervened and pointed out the governor’s excess travels in 2021 as he was outside Kerala for 82 days. The governor claimed that he had submitted the required documents and the President’s secretariat has excluded him from the existing guidelines. 

Arif Mohammed Khan was not in Kerala for 19 days in March 2022. He also set aside 17 days each in June and August for travelling. Most of the visits during this period were to Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. 

The travel expenses of the governor are incurred from the account ‘Tour Expenses’. Within four years of his tenure, Arif Mohammed Khan has spent Rs 46.55 lakh solely on travel. Apart from this, the expenses of officials accompanying the governor constituted Rs 1 crore. 

Governor defended that he could not avoid the travels as he has been invited from other states for several events and speeches.