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As reported by Pawan Bali in ibn.in.com on 08 May 2010:
RTI exposes J-K austerity sham - Politics - ibnlive
RTI exposes J-K austerity sham
Jammu: An RTI response has torn apart the Jammu and Kashmir Government's claims of austerity measures and empty coffers. The query filed by CNN-IBN under Right to Information (RTI) Act shows how Rs 6 crore was spent just on renovation and repair work of ministerial bunglows.
Earlier, the state's Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had initiated the austerity drive by promising to reduce non-necessary expenditure.
However, RTI filed by CNN-IBN shows that the cut backs on official lunches, purchase of furniture and even stationary in government offices are just skin deep.
It reveals how a whopping Rs 6 crore was spent on repairing ministerial bunglows in the last one year. This includes Rs 48.7 lakh spent on Chief Minister Omar Abdullah' s own private office in Srinagar. Over Rs 47.4 lakh were also spent on the residence of the state's Finance Minister and and Rs 30 lakh on the Social Welfare Minister.
"The [austerity] drive is only on paper. We do not find it practiced in real life," Harsh Dev Singh, MLA, J-K Assembly.
And it is not just the current government in the state which is indulging in such spending. The cash strapped state, on an average spends Rs 6 to 10 crore annually year on repairs or renovations on the ministerial houses.
Between 2004 and 2007, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party-Congress coalition spent Rs 24 crore on similar repairs. Former Congress Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad reportedly spent Rs 11 crore on his official residence while his predecessor Mufti Mohammad Sayeed spent Rs 5 crore.
"The signal that it sends is austerity measures are for rest of the people. It's a symptom where representatives of people do not feel accountable to the people," says Dipankar Sengupta, Professor, Economics at the University of Jammu.
Sengupta adds that this practice is a 'malice' affecting the polity in the country.
In a state where coffers are said to be empty, perhaps it is high time the politicians learn that a penny saved is a penny earned.
As reported by Pawan Bali in ibn.in.com on 08 May 2010:
RTI exposes J-K austerity sham - Politics - ibnlive
RTI exposes J-K austerity sham
Jammu: An RTI response has torn apart the Jammu and Kashmir Government's claims of austerity measures and empty coffers. The query filed by CNN-IBN under Right to Information (RTI) Act shows how Rs 6 crore was spent just on renovation and repair work of ministerial bunglows.
Earlier, the state's Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had initiated the austerity drive by promising to reduce non-necessary expenditure.
However, RTI filed by CNN-IBN shows that the cut backs on official lunches, purchase of furniture and even stationary in government offices are just skin deep.
It reveals how a whopping Rs 6 crore was spent on repairing ministerial bunglows in the last one year. This includes Rs 48.7 lakh spent on Chief Minister Omar Abdullah' s own private office in Srinagar. Over Rs 47.4 lakh were also spent on the residence of the state's Finance Minister and and Rs 30 lakh on the Social Welfare Minister.
"The [austerity] drive is only on paper. We do not find it practiced in real life," Harsh Dev Singh, MLA, J-K Assembly.
And it is not just the current government in the state which is indulging in such spending. The cash strapped state, on an average spends Rs 6 to 10 crore annually year on repairs or renovations on the ministerial houses.
Between 2004 and 2007, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party-Congress coalition spent Rs 24 crore on similar repairs. Former Congress Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad reportedly spent Rs 11 crore on his official residence while his predecessor Mufti Mohammad Sayeed spent Rs 5 crore.
"The signal that it sends is austerity measures are for rest of the people. It's a symptom where representatives of people do not feel accountable to the people," says Dipankar Sengupta, Professor, Economics at the University of Jammu.
Sengupta adds that this practice is a 'malice' affecting the polity in the country.
In a state where coffers are said to be empty, perhaps it is high time the politicians learn that a penny saved is a penny earned.