Meira Kumar is a costly globe-trotter, but Somnath was worse

Meira Kumar, who was elected as Speaker of the Lok Sabha in June 2009, has visited close to a dozen countries since her term began with most of the trips being made in connection with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association , the Times of India reported today.

Nearly Rs 10 crore has been spent on her travel to various countries in the last three years that she has been in office and she had spent a little more than Rs 11 lakh on gifts for her hosts.

The data based on an RTI application filed by activist Subhash Agarwal reveals that she visited Switzerland the most in connection with work  for the IPU. Kumar, a former Indian Foreign Service officer, has visited Switzerland four times in the last four years.

Other countries visited include US, Panama, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, Isle of Man, Swaziland, Kenya and Tanzania.

However, this still pales in comparison to previous Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee who made around 20 trips abroad for similar functions. The cost of his trips is not known.

Kumar was recently in the eye of a storm after it was revealed that the Ministry of Urban Development had exempted her from paying a Rs 2 crore bill for living in the Delhi bungalow in which her father, Congress leader Jagjivan Ram, used to live.

She was also accused of creating a museum and a memorial to her father in the residential bungalow without official sanction.

Kumar may also be in the running for the post of President with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee supporting her potential candidature. However, she has not revealed any such ambitions yet.