Biscuits for Rs 50,000 on BBMPs gravy train!

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Biscuits for Rs 50,000 on BBMPs gravy train!

By Basavaraj Itnaal, DH News Service, Bangalore:

You may recall the three-hour interaction the BBMP organised on July
15, 2008, at Ravindra Kalakshetra here on the contentious Capital
Value System of property tax assessment.

Well, the concrete outcome of that interaction is yet to be known.
What we do, however, know is that the Palike spent Rs 50,000 just for
serving biscuits to the participants that day! The Palike PRO has it
that the civic body spent Rs 2.96 lakh on some aspects of hosting the
event including the expensive biscuits which participants might not
have even tasted.

In addition, the Palike spent around Rs 6 lakh on publicity and Rs 2.5
lakh on lunch arrangements.
When contacted, Palike PRO Puttaraju declined to comment. Even so, the
relevant file, PRO/C41/PR/34/2008-09, on which he has signed has many
interesting tales.
White lies

Puttaraju has shown on record an attendance of 1500 for the event. But
Ravindra Kalakshetra has only a 850-strong capacity.

The venue is used by many theatre troupes which pay Rs 2,500 as rental
for half a day plus Rs 2000 as refundable deposit but the PRO shows Rs
8,810 as rental and a whopping Rs 35,000 for floral decoration of the
stage plus Rs 7,500 for the carpet on the dais.
When confronted with these details, Puttaraju said that he has done
what he had to and that the records were available for all to see
under RTI.

Deccan Herald - Biscuits for Rs 50,000 on BBMPs gravy train!