Bengaluru: The Congress government in Karnataka under Siddaramaiah haD reportedly spent Rs. 36 crores on phone bills of MLAs and MLCs during its rule.
According to India Today, which quotes an RTI query, each of the 224 MLAs and 75 MLCs received Rs. 20,000 per month as phone allowance.
RTI activist Bhimappa Gadad is quoted in the India Today saying that when unlimited call packages are available for mere Rs 500 that is valid for more than a month, why are MLAs and MLCs getting paid so much?
The Siddaramaiah government had hiked the phone allowance for MLAs and MLCs from 15,000 rupees to 20,000 rupees in 2015.
Karnataka had spent Rs 235 cr on the salaries of MLAs and MLCs during 2013-2018, which included travel allowance, daily allowance, medical allowance and phone allowance.
The Karnataka Assembly has 224 elected MLAs and the council has 75 MLCs.
One may have to wait and watch if incumbent CM HD Kumaraswamy, who had earlier pressed upon cost cutting will take a stand on this issue or not.
