Siddaramaiah overtakes BS Yeddyurappa, splurges Rs 20 crore on air travel

Belagavi: Only recently, former Chief Minister, B S Yeddyurappa came in for much criticism for his plan to visit drought -hit areas of the state in a high-end Prado car.  But Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has done one better.

On Wednesday he flew in a private aircraft to drought-hit Belagavi  and then in a helicopter to Chikkodi, one of the worst affected areas of the state. Returning to Belagavi in a helicopter, he then took a private flight back to Bengaluru.

That is not all. The Chief Minister  has spent a whopping Rs 20.11 crore on air travel since he assumed office in 2013, going by the response of the revenue department  to a query under the Right to Information Act (RTI).     

Reviewing the drought situation in Belgavi, industries minister, R V Deshpande had revealed on Tuesday that the government had not yet paid the Rs 42 crore it owed contractors engaged for the Multi- Village Water Supply Schemes in drought-hit areas of  the district.

But this does not appear to have deterred  the state's ministers from spending as much as Rs 2.27 crore on air travel,  with Mr Deshpande himself spending the highest amount of Rs 45 lakh,  followed by M.H. Ambareesh (Rs 39.91 lakh) and Mr Ramanath Rai ( Rs 33.50 lakh) in the time that they have been in office.

Despite being asked about their air-travel expenses under RTI Act, 15 cabinet ministers did not respond and two others said they had not travelled by air as yet.
 In all, the Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues have spent a massive Rs 39.50 crore on travel  since the Congress government took over a couple of years ago. Mr Yeddyurappa had spent Rs 40 crore on air travel during his 32- month stint as Chief Minister of the state.

Asked to comment on reports that he had spent a whopping Rs 20.11 crore on air travel  since assuming office and why he  chose to visit drought-hit Belagavi in a private plane and helicopter on Wednesday, Mr Siddaramaiah claimed that he travelled by air only if it was neccessary.

“In many smaller states, Chief Ministers always travel by air and helicopter. I went by road to drought-hit areas of Bidar from Bengaluru  recently. Only in  emergencies do I fly,'' he maintained, underlining that he would never spend money recklessly on air travel when many areas were reeling under a drought.