Raj Bhavan cuts costs by 80% in 6 mths
Expenditure Down To ₹30L From ₹1.68 cr
D.Govardan @timesgroup.com
Chennai: 23.06.2018
: At a time when government spending has become a matter of concern, Raj Bhavan in Chennai has offered a way out. Plugging leaks on expenditure, it has reduced spending by more than 80% in six months from ₹1.68 crore during April 2017 - September 2017 to ₹30.3 lakh during October 2017 - March 2018 of the last financial year.
“We streamlined procurement process, introduced a system of paying for services, besides preferring economic class travel on flights, including for the governor, and strict monitoring of usage of electricity. This has helped reduce the expenditure, without cutting down any ceremonial hospitality expenses,” said R Rajagopal, additional chief secretary to the Tamil Nadu governor.
Banwarilal Purohit took over as governor of Tamil Nadu in October last year, succeeding Ch Vidyasagar Rao, who was holding additional charge of the state, besides Maharashtra.
While opposition parties have been accusing Purohit of making frequent visits to districts, terming it interference in the affairs of the state government, Raj Bhavan’s biggest gain, in the comparable six months, was in travel expenses, which came down to ₹4.75 lakh in the second half, from ₹80.5 lakh in the first half of last fiscal. “While the governor prefers mostly train journey for travel within the state, travel by flight to all destinations is in economy class for all, including the governor. The number of people accompanying him too has been limited, unlike in the past,” Rajagopal said.
The steep reduction in travel costs in the six-month comparable period last fiscal was also due to a hefty ₹55 lakh bill that the Indian Air Force had raised for use of its special aircraft for travel within Tamil Nadu by former governor Vidyasagar Rao.
Another major saving was on catering expenses, where the expenditure came down to ₹9.23 lakh for the second half of last year, from the earlier ₹41.75 lakh in the first half.
“Provisions were being procured from a private store and there was no monitoring system in place to check on the quantum of orders placed and actual goods delivered. We now buy it from the state co-operative-run Amudham store that cannot duplicate bills. While fruits, vegetables and flowers are still bought from local markets, we now have a monitoring system in place and people from other departments accompany those tasked for buying these,” Rajagopal said.
Earlier, the canteen used to charge ₹10 each for breakfast, lunch and dinner and for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian categories. Now, it is only vegetarian, with breakfast priced at ₹50, while lunch and dinner at ₹80 each.
“Everyone, including the governor, pays for meals. Paying for services has become the order of the day in Raj Bhavan and this applies to fuel for private use of office vehicles, both by governor and officials,” said Rajagopal.
Electricity charges, too, have reduced sharply by around 60%, from ₹28.57 lakh to ₹10.99 lakh in the comparable periods. Expenses on garden contingencies too came down to ₹2.83 lakh from ₹11.99 lakh. A system has been put in place for all expenditures and it will not be easy to overlook it in future too, added Rajagopal.
Expenditure Down To ₹30L From ₹1.68 cr
D.Govardan @timesgroup.com
Chennai: 23.06.2018
: At a time when government spending has become a matter of concern, Raj Bhavan in Chennai has offered a way out. Plugging leaks on expenditure, it has reduced spending by more than 80% in six months from ₹1.68 crore during April 2017 - September 2017 to ₹30.3 lakh during October 2017 - March 2018 of the last financial year.
“We streamlined procurement process, introduced a system of paying for services, besides preferring economic class travel on flights, including for the governor, and strict monitoring of usage of electricity. This has helped reduce the expenditure, without cutting down any ceremonial hospitality expenses,” said R Rajagopal, additional chief secretary to the Tamil Nadu governor.
Banwarilal Purohit took over as governor of Tamil Nadu in October last year, succeeding Ch Vidyasagar Rao, who was holding additional charge of the state, besides Maharashtra.
While opposition parties have been accusing Purohit of making frequent visits to districts, terming it interference in the affairs of the state government, Raj Bhavan’s biggest gain, in the comparable six months, was in travel expenses, which came down to ₹4.75 lakh in the second half, from ₹80.5 lakh in the first half of last fiscal. “While the governor prefers mostly train journey for travel within the state, travel by flight to all destinations is in economy class for all, including the governor. The number of people accompanying him too has been limited, unlike in the past,” Rajagopal said.
The steep reduction in travel costs in the six-month comparable period last fiscal was also due to a hefty ₹55 lakh bill that the Indian Air Force had raised for use of its special aircraft for travel within Tamil Nadu by former governor Vidyasagar Rao.
Another major saving was on catering expenses, where the expenditure came down to ₹9.23 lakh for the second half of last year, from the earlier ₹41.75 lakh in the first half.
“Provisions were being procured from a private store and there was no monitoring system in place to check on the quantum of orders placed and actual goods delivered. We now buy it from the state co-operative-run Amudham store that cannot duplicate bills. While fruits, vegetables and flowers are still bought from local markets, we now have a monitoring system in place and people from other departments accompany those tasked for buying these,” Rajagopal said.
Earlier, the canteen used to charge ₹10 each for breakfast, lunch and dinner and for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian categories. Now, it is only vegetarian, with breakfast priced at ₹50, while lunch and dinner at ₹80 each.
“Everyone, including the governor, pays for meals. Paying for services has become the order of the day in Raj Bhavan and this applies to fuel for private use of office vehicles, both by governor and officials,” said Rajagopal.
Electricity charges, too, have reduced sharply by around 60%, from ₹28.57 lakh to ₹10.99 lakh in the comparable periods. Expenses on garden contingencies too came down to ₹2.83 lakh from ₹11.99 lakh. A system has been put in place for all expenditures and it will not be easy to overlook it in future too, added Rajagopal.
No comments:
Post a Comment