Chandigarh: The Haryana Finance Department has issued detailed and comprehensive guidelines regarding official and private foreign visits for all state government employees. These new instructions apply to all Group ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, and ‘D’ government employees, including members of All India Services serving in connection with the affairs of the State.
According to the guidelines issued by Chief Secretary Sh. Anurag Rastogi, who also holds the charge of ACS Finance, for Official Foreign Travel (on government expenses), permission will now be considered for a maximum of only one official visit and one private visit in a financial year. Furthermore, the total combined duration of foreign stay, encompassing both official and private visits taken together, must not exceed three weeks. Private leave immediately adjacent to an official trip is strictly limited to three weeks or 50% of the official trip length, though for short official trips (less than 8 days), the attached private leave is capped at four days.
All proposals for official foreign travel must follow a mandatory approval flow: they must first be approved by the Chief Minister (on the Administrative Department’s side) and only thereafter be submitted to the Finance Department (FR Branch) for financial concurrence. Critically, online budget reports signed by the Budget Controlling Authority (BCA) are required beforehand to confirm the availability of adequate budget under the ’48-Foreign Travel Allowance’ head.
Approval of the Finance Department for foreign visits for attending Seminars and Trainings must be obtained in advance before performing actual visits in those cases which are not in accordance with the Training Policy issued by office of the Chief Secretary to Government Haryana (Training Branch) from time to time.
The Administrative Department shall also obtain all statutory, administrative / cadre clearance and political clearances of the officers from concerned Ministries in Government of India as well as from the Cadre Controlling Authorities of the State Government at its own level.
For Private Foreign Travel (on Personal Expenses), permission will be considered for a maximum of one private visit in a financial year by the Administrative Department, and the sanction order must mention the name of the visiting country. The department reserves the right to deny permission due to office exigency. To prevent conflicts of interest, permission will be denied if the personal foreign visit is sponsored or borne by private organizations with which the concerned department has official dealings. Additionally, legal clearance is mandatory: permission will not be granted if a criminal case is pending in court or a charge-sheet for a major penalty is pending against the individual.
Strict compliance is required, as ex-post facto approval will not be granted under any circumstances, and officers leaving the country without prior permission will face strict disciplinary action. While abroad, officers/officials are prohibited from taking any job or overstaying without prior approval.
In case of ‘handing over/taking over of the charge’ system, the officer/ official shall hand over the charge to his/her substitute before going aboard. Further, the concerned officer/official shall not take any job in the foreign country.
The Finance Department will retain the power to interpret, change, amend, relax, and remove any doubts regarding these instructions. These new guidelines are effective immediately from the date of issuance.
