1.94 cr spent on Assembly sessions between 2014 &17

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 7

The Congress and BJP governments in Uttarakhand have spent Rs 1.94 crore for holding Assembly sessions in Gairsain between 2014 and 2017.

While responding to a RTI query of Gurinder Chadda, the RTI officer in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, has said between 2014 and 2017, the Assembly session was held for nine days and the highest expenditure was incurred last year under the BJP rule.

In 2014, when the session was first hosted by the Congress government in Gairsain for three days, a total expenditure of Rs 57.09 lakh was incurred, then in 2015 the session was held for two days and a total of Rs 2.77 lakh were incurred as expenditure. In 2016, again under the Congress government rule, a total of Rs 36.29 lakh was spent for hosting the session for two days.

However, when the BJP government came to power last year, again the session was held for two days and a total expenditure of Rs 98.69 lakh was incurred. 

While most of the expenditure was incurred on making temporary arrangements for holding the session, the work on the Assembly building remains incomplete. 

“When we were in power, our government was interested in making permanent arrangements by constructing a building, but since the BJP has come to power, the work has come to a standstill, as no funds have been allocated,” said Indira Hridayesh, Leader of the Opposition in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly.