RTI reveals heavy expenditure on UP ministers’ residences
10 Nov, 2012
Reply to an application under the Right to information (RTI) Act has revealed that within a short span of mere five months, the Uttar Pradesh government has spent more than Rs 1.62 crore on the interior decoration of the official residences of the ministers.
The reply, provided by the Public Works Department (PWD) of Uttar Pradesh, contained the details of the expenditure incurred on the bungalows of the chief minister along with 42 other ministers between March 16 and July 31 in 2012. The government was formed on March 15.
Among the individual ministers, an expenditure of Rs 19.11 lakh was made on the bungalow of PWD Minister Shivpal Yadav, Rs 15.97 lakh on the bungalow of Minority Welfare and Urban Development Minister Azam Khan and Rs 9.45 lakh was spent on the bungalow allotted to Food and Civil Supplies Minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya. The expenditure included new sofas, beds, curtains, tiles, bathroom fittings and wall paintings as demanded by the ministers. The sample pieces of the items were personally checked by the ministers and they selected, in general, costly items.