Rs 123 cr spent on MLA doles in 5 years!

Belgaum: At a time when the government is facing criticism for excessive spending on the ongoing second winter session of the state legislature in Belgaum, it has come to light that a whopping Rs 169.62 crore has been spent on allowances of legislators between 2008 and 2013.

Information obtained under the RTI Act has revealed that the government spent Rs 123.84 crore on the allowances of MLAs and Rs 45.77 crore towards allowances of MLCs during this five-year period.

The information further revealed that Rs 63.65 crore was incurred on legislators salaries, Rs 6.45 crore towards medical expenses and another Rs 84.49 crore on their travel and daily allowances. According to sources, the allowances of legislators are expected to be huge if the current expenses being spent on legislators is calculated, as the winter session is being held in Belgaum.

As per RTI information, Rs 20,000 is paid as salary to each legislator monthly besides Rs 15,000 on their phone bills, Rs 5000 on postal charges, Rs 10,000 for their personal assistants, Rs 15,000 as constituency charges and Rs 25,000 for constituency travel expenses. In all, the net payment for each MLA stands at Rs 90,000 per month.

Apart from these regular expenses, an amount of Rs 1000 is paid to each legislators everyday during the time of legislature sessions and Rs 1500 daily for meetings attended by the out of the state. The legislators are given Rs 2 lakh annually for travel in trains or by flights.