Dikshit disapproves of minister's push on Sweden trip
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today said she did not agree to the way the social welfare department headed by Mangat Ram Singhal directly approached the Swedish embassy for an official trip to the European country.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Thursday said she did not agree to the way the social welfare department headed by Mangat Ram Singhal directly approached the Swedish embassy for an official trip to the European country.
"What I know is that we did not agree," Dikshit told the news agency.
However, she maintained that the whole issue was a trivial one, adding: "I don't know why such an issue is made of it."
The Delhi government asked the minister and his officials to cancel the Sweden trip after the external affairs ministry took up the matter with it.
The foreign ministry, while giving its approval for the trip of a team led by Singhal, disapproved of the department's move to directly approach the Swedish embassy, a source said.
The social welfare department, which wanted to study practices in place in Sweden for the care of certain sections of society, particularly the elderly, had sought the ministry's clearance in the first week of June for the visit.
"The tour was finally cancelled by the Delhi government," the source said.
The minister was also in news in June after he allegedly got into a violent argument with security staff of a five-star hotel here over the checking of his car.