Belagavi (Karnataka), Dec 2 (IANS) Right to Information (RTI) activist Bhimappa Gadad alleged on Tuesday that the Karnataka government has spent about nearly Rs 43 lakh on a single chair for the Legislative Assembly Speaker in the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi, and an additional Rs 67 lakh on installing portraits of national leaders inside the building.

Speaking to IANS in Belagavi, Gadad criticised the Karnataka government for what he termed a blatant waste of public tax money.

“The government claims it has no funds and is facing financial stress, yet it spends huge amounts on unnecessary luxury items,” the RTI activist said.

Gadad noted that Rs 42,93,940 had been spent on crafting the Assembly Speaker’s chair alone.

“This is astonishing — almost a Guinness record. When the President visited for the inauguration of the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, the state government had spent Rs 33 lakh on his chair. Now they have spent about Rs 43 lakh on a chair for the Speaker. Even the President does not use such an expensive chair. This is an outrageous waste of public money,” he said.

He also questioned Assembly Speaker U.T. Khader’s moral responsibility.

“I want to ask the Assembly Speaker whether he has similar chairs at his residence and whether he normally uses chairs worth Rs 43 lakh at home. There must be limits on how public money is spent,” the RTI activist said.

Gadad highlighted the state government’s claims of financial hardship.

“The economic situation is not good. The state government says it has imposed restrictions on wasteful spending. Pensions for the elderly are delayed, and allowances for the disabled, widows and others have been reduced. Government employees are not receiving salaries on time, but MLAs and MPs get their pay every month without fail,” he remarked.

The RTI activist also said that the state government spent Rs 67,67,964 on portraits of 11 eminent personalities, including Mahatma Gandhi, Lord Basaveshwara, B.R. Ambedkar and Veer Savarkar, installed inside the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha.

He said that in 2022, the state government had paid Rs 12.70 lakh to artists from the Chitrakala Parishath for portraits of seven eminent leaders.

“Later, as per the Speaker’s directions, a team reviewed the portraits and reported that they did not resemble the personalities. The state government then spent Rs 24.80 lakh more for the same photos. In total, the amount spent on 11 portraits stands at about Rs 67 lakh,” the RTI activist added.

Gadad demanded that the state government exhibit the Speaker’s chair and the portraits for public viewing.

“They should also appoint a guide to explain their exorbitant prices,” he said.

He warned that if the state government fails to curb what he calls wasteful expenditure, he will initiate a legal battle.

“Pensions for widows and the differently-abled are being disbursed once in two or three months. The only people who receive salaries and reimbursements on time are MLAs and MLCs,” he added.

The Winter Assembly session is scheduled to begin on December 8 and will continue until December 19 at the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi.

The development is likely to stir a controversy.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha member and former Speaker Visveshwar Hegde Kageri recently demanded an inquiry by a sitting Judge of Karnataka High Court over the alleged corruption by Speaker U.T. Khader.

“Let a sitting Judge probe the allegations of corruption by Assembly Speaker U.T. Khader,” Kageri charged and said in the last two-and-a-half years, Speaker Khader in the name of initiating administrative reforms allegedly indulged in corruption by fitting smart locks to legislators’ room, installation of AI-monitored television sets, holding book fair, lightings, massage chairs for legislators, among others.

–IANS

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