Bengaluru: Our Ministers travel and meet people. That much is evdent from an answer to an RTI Query. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his ministerial colleagues have spent in a staggering Rs 7.89 crore on travel allowance alone in the last two years and the State government has spent Rs 13.8 crore on salary and allowances of the 30 ministers, excluding Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Dakshina Kannada representatives have a high proportion of claims: urban Development minister Vinay Kumar Sorake is followed by Textiles Minister Baburao Chinchansur with an amount of Rs 76.29 lakh, including Rs 44.63 lakh as travel allowance and Health Minister U T Khader with Rs 74.09 lakh, including Rs 54.42 lakh for travel. Dakshina Kannada district in charge minister B Ramanath Rai has claimed 51.44 lakh travel allowance in two years.The travel allowance claimed by Chief minister is about Rs 36 lakh during this period. Revenue Minister V Srinivas Prasad has received the least pay of Rs 22.96 lakh as travel allowance.
Except for travel allowance, information pertaining to expenditure incurred on the chief minister’s salary and other allowances has not been made available to the Right to Information activist.
According Bheemappa Gundappa Gadada, the activist who obtained the information, some of the ministers have claimed travel allowance at Rs 20 to Rs 30 per km though luxury cars are available for hire at a cheaper rate of Rs 15 per km.
