Karnataka’s legislature secretariat has proposed to gift gold biscuits to its 300 MLAs and silver plates to 5,000 employees, to celebrate the diamond jubilee of the Vidhana Soudha – the seat of the government in the state.
The secretariat reportedly asked the Finance Department for Rs 26.87 crore for the two-day event, including Rs 3 crore for these gifts, The Hindu reported. The gold biscuits cost Rs 50,000 each and will have the emblem of the Vidhana Soudha engraved on them, while the silver plates are expected to cost Rs 5,000 each.
The Assembly Speaker, KB Koliwad, was first quoted by India Today as saying he had sent a proposal to the Finance Department and that it was pending with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. “The CM is the finance minister and he needs to take a decision,” he said.
However, Koliwad later told India Today and news agency ANI that no such proposal was sent. “I assure you, there is no proposal for distribution of gold coins & silver plates.”
The proposal to spend so much money on such an event was criticised by leaders within the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata party, as the state is battling both floods and drought.
“This move is highly deplorable. Monsoon fury has affected Bangalore and people are suffering,” India Today quoted BJP spokesperson S Prakash as saying. Siddaramaiah must shoot it down, he said. “This kind of proposal is just not acceptable to us and there is no need to spend such money for such things,” Dinesh Gundu Rao, the working president of the Karnataka Congress Committee told the news website.
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