Rs. 34.26 lakh spent on Naveen’s swearing in as Odisha CM !

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Jan 5:

Government of Odisha spent a whopping Rs. 34,26,002 for the oath taking ceremony of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik held on May 21, 2014.

The revelation came in the shape of a reply furnished by the Public Information Officer (PIO), Department of Planning and Coordination on January 2 to an RTI application filed by activist Pradip Ppradhan on November 22, 2014 seeking information about the details of the expenditure incurred on the oath taking ceremony.

The details of the reply furnished by the PIO are as follows.

1 – Providing stage and sitting arrangement- 16,37,500.00

2 – Temporary Illumination arrangement- 17,45,921.00

3 – Preparation meeting for the swearing-in-ceremony – 300.00

4 – Expenditure for contingency i.e., table cloth, big towel and small towel – 2695.00

5 – Expenditure for stationeries – 1890.00 + 4519.00

6 – Expenditure for flowers – 5000.00

7 – Vehicle charge  for taking silver hair to the Raj Bhawan – 1800.00

8 – Refreshment for the staff  of P.A. Dept staying beyond office  hour and other works – 26,377.00

As is clear from the repky, the expenses incurred on putting in place the security arrangements are not part of the expenditure shown in it.