RTI reveals huge expenditure on renovation of official residences of ministers
29 Dec, 2013
An application was filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to get the details of the expenditure incurred on the repair and renovation of the official residences of various ministers in the Maharashtra government. The application also sought to know about the expenditure on domestic air travels of the state ministers.
The reply to the application revealed that expenditure to the tune of Rs. 14 crore was incurred by the ministers in the state government on renovation of their residences and on their domestic air travels. The RTI reply shows that Rs. 33.5 lakh was spent on the renovation of the Chief Minister’s residence while Rs. 37.98 lakh was drawn for the renovation of the residence of deputy chief minister. The reply showed that while Rs. 20 lakh was spent on the Home Minister’s residence, irrigation minister and the rural development minister drew Rs. 18 lakh each for renovation of their official residences. The reply also showed that the ministers’ domestic air travels drew a cumulative expenditure of around Rs. 2 crore in one year.
However, the office of the deputy chief minister has now announced that it has reimbursed the additional expenditure of Rs. 27 lakh incurred on the renovation of his official residence to the public works department (PWD).