Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is facing an embarrassing situation as it was revealed that he has Rs 20 crore on air travel bill in three years. This amount is spent by him from state exchequer, for his official air travel for previous three years. He is already in trouble due to alleged involvement of his son in two scams. Moreover, this is revealed at a time when the complete state is suffering drought.
In May 2013, Siddaramaiah came to power. He stands first, when it comes to air travel expenses. Next to follow are Industries Minister RV Deshpande (Rs 54 lakh), veteran actor who turned politician and Housing Minister MH Ambarish at (Rs 39.91 lakh), Forest, Ecology & Environment Minister B Ramanath Rai (Rs 33.50 lakh).
All the air travel expenses are listed under “official work”. Under the RTI, social activist Bheemappa Gadad procured for the information, demanding a detailed probe into the matter.
Bheemappa said, “The ministers and the CM should desist from using aircraft and helicopters for travel within the state. They should use trains and the vehicles assigned to them. This way they can reduce the burden on the state exchequer in times of distress like this drought.”
There is no response from Siddaramaiah yet on these revelations related to air travel. This probably could dent the Congress’ image further. An RTI reply revealed this information about Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s spending on air travel.
-Sumana
