Indian Express: Belagavi: Friday, July 13, 2018.
Rashtrapati
Bhavan in New Delhi, bedecked with well-manicured gardens, is a sight many sigh
at. But the maintenance of the gardens comes at a cost. A piece of information
obtained under Right To Information has revealed that in the last three years,
`12.70 crore has been spent only on the maintenance of the gardens. President’s
secretariat, in response to a letter submitted under RTI Act by Bheemappa
Gadad, a noted RTI activist of Belagavi, furnished information (dated May 22,
2018) on the maintenance of the gardens and expenses incurred on it for the
past three years.
Besides
`12.70 crore spent on maintenance of the gardens, another `1.46 crore was spent
on garden equipment and gear. It was also revealed that a salary of `72 lakh
was paid to gardeners at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in February 2018 alone. If the
salary figure is extrapolated, it means the government is spending
approximately `8 crore annually merely on salaries of gardeners of the Bhavan.
“The
Rashtrapati Bhavan did not provide detailed information on salaries which it
paid to the gardeners over the last three years. However, partial information
on this point has been provided by the authorities. Only, the information about
salaries paid for February 2018 to the gardeners and other employees
maintaining the garden has been furnished by the Bhavan,’’ said Gadad.
The official
documents on the gardens’ expenditure provided by Rashtrapati Bhavan shows
`3.73 crore was spent on maintenance and repair of garden during 2015-16
and`50.09 lakh on machinery and equipment in the same year. In 2016-17, `4.56
crore was spent on the maintenance and repair of the garden and Rs 96.15 lakh
on machinery and equipment used.
Another `4.40
crore was spent on maintenance and repair of the garden during 2017-18.The
sprawling Rashtrapati Bhavan’s gardens stretch across an area of 139 acres as
per the information provided by the President’s secretariat.The maintenance of
Karnataka’s Brindavan Garndens with an area of 72 acres - almost half the size
of the Rashtrapati Bhavan gardens -
costs `7 crore per year.