Yes, Jade Goody has got a visa to travel to India. But, no, she is not an official guest despite full-page ads in British newspapers issued by the Government laying out the red carpet for her to experience India’s “healing nature.”

Goody, whose colourful outbursts against Shilpa Shetty on Big Brother sparked off a trans-national debate on TV racism, was granted the visa today. “We do not know when Goody will collect it but we have issued the visa this evening,” a High Commission official told The Indian Express.

Meanwhile, Union Tourism Minister Ambika Soni stepped in to make it clear that Goody would not be an official guest. Soni said Goody could visit India like any “free citizen” anywhere in the world. She claimed the ministry had never thought of inviting Goody and that the ad, which appeared in UK, was meant to be “satirical.”

“Goody herself has admitted she made racist comments,” said Soni, “so how can she be an official guest of the country?”

Sources close to the minister said she was “very upset” over the controversy surrounding the invitation and is learnt to have pulled up officials concerned. The full-page ads were placed in seven leading UK newspapers. A full-page ad, on an average, goes for somewhere between £5,000 and £11,000.

The ad was placed by the India Tourism office in London. Said Vivek Angra, its director: “We have not offered her a free visit. The idea was to take advantage of the amount of coverage around Celebrity Big Brother...It was intended to dispel any negative or outdated views expressed in the programme. It was probably one of the most successful in terms of significant amount of PR coverage.”

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