thiruvananthapuram government has come out with stringent rules with regard to foreign travel of its officials according to the latest order issued by the finance department on february 16 no official should undertake foreign travel more than four times a year and should not spend more than 20 days excluding journey time in a year abroadit states that officials should have meetings only with foreign government private organizationother institution representatives equivalent to them it has been observed that some officials meet even people who either have a shady background or much below in rank this demeans not just the officer but the state a top government source saidthe formal proposal for the visit submitted at least four weeks prior to a foreign trip should contain full details such as identity how many visits she had undertaken in the past three years detailed itinerary cost meetings scheduled during the visit etcat the same time the government has also brought in some relaxation too now the file regarding the foreign trip need to be seen and cleared by minister of the concerned department finance secretary chief secretary finance minister and the chief minister instead of the same traversing through various levels in finance departmentproposals for foreign tours which do not involve financial commitment to the government need not be referred to the finance department such proposals need to be circulated only through secretary of the administrative department the chief secretary and the concerned minister of the administrative departmentonly one personal staff member will be entitled to travel by air along with a minister on foreign trips in case of necessity one personal security officer can accompany the chief minister on his official tripsproposals of foreign travels of college and university faculty members for participating in conferences or training programmes which incur no financial liability to the government need not seek government approval hereafter the vicechancellor will be the sanctioning authority for university faculty members while director of collegiate education will give nod for government and aided college teachers subject to all clearances from the centre however the secretary of the administrative department should be kept informedwe have compiled all rules that were in force till now and have made additions to it we have also incorporated some of specifications of the centre additional chief secretary finance manoj joshi said