Bangalore : Recently extravagant trips of Karnataka legislators to monkey parks and beaches in Rio in Brazil had made headlines.
Now, a report submitted by a team of MLAs, which went on a so-called `study tour’ last year to China, Japan and Singapore, not only makes hilarious reading but also shows how serious law makers were while doing some ‘in-depth study’.
The report submitted to the Speaker says the team studied modern agricultural practices and traffic laws on the highways of China while they travelled by a bullet train at speeds that crossed 300 kmph!
“Throughout the train journey we observed modern agricultural activities and the traffic flow on the highways,” the legislators said in the report, without batting an eyelid.
The MLAs went to work soon after landing, adds the report. At Singapore airport, they observed passenger-friendly initiatives, includ-ing battery-operated vehi-cles, sky train, relaxation chairs, baby care centres, shops, hotel reservation counters, passengers’ lounge, foreign exchange counter, designated smoking room, wheelchair, and aero-bridges. And at the end, the team recommended that the state government should implement these facilities at Bangalore’s International Airport, not realising that these facilities have been operational in Bangalore for over two years.
In Tokyo, the lawmakers `studied’ the city’s geography and demography (whatever that meant). They then hopped on to a bullet train and asked the State Government to introduce such trains between Bangalore and Mysore. Hardly did they know that a proposal for bullet trains between Bangalore and Mysore and Bangalore and Chennai has been in the cold storage for six years.
The MLAs also went to a topless cabaret show in Australia, but thankfully there is no report or recommendations on this topic.
And at the end, the lawmakers gave some `revealing’ suggestions that included encouraging sports to ensure participation in Olympics; better utilisation of human resources; create places that would attract international tourists; develop the coastline; improve basic infrastructure; adopt new farming methods; take measures to control crime and create employment opportunities for rural people.
And the biggest revelation comes at the end. Major parts of the report describing cities and places of attraction have been lifted from other websites and Wikipedia.
R S Menon
