Times of India: Hyderabad:
Wednesday, May 15, 2013.
The Prime
Minister's Office (PMO) spent about Rs 1.4 crore on 20 lavish dinners hosted
for its UPA allies in recent years, it said in a recent reply to an RTI query,
but turned down requests to reveal the minutes of meetings and private parties
involved in organizing these dinners.
Interestingly,
lakhs were also spent on organizing dinner for the Left coordination committee
in mid 2007, months before the communists eventually pulled out of the
government, protesting the landmark civil nuclear cooperation deal with the
United States of America.
Activists
said the tax payers' money was being used by leaders for political gains at a
time when the nation was battling inflation, poverty and food crisis. The
dinners hosted by the PMO between 2004 and 2013 were attended by 3,064 guests.
While the
catering charges came up to Rs 60 lakhs, the charges for erecting tents was
pegged at Rs 57 lakhs, lighting costs stood at Rs 15 lakhs and floral
arrangement about Rs 7 lakhs. On an average, the PMO spent Rs 4,478 on each
guest in these feasts.
Analysts said
these dinners, meant to be social events, end up being misused for narrow
political purposes. "There should be some code which should be followed
for hosting such dinners," said Telakapalli Ravi, a political analyst from
the city.
"Most
often these dinners are used for lobbying to keep the coalition close-knitted.
This is the reason why the guest list in such events includes corporate bosses
and extra-constitutional authorities. This is not good for democracy. There
should be proper protocol and transparency as to who is invited."
While the PMO
revealed the basic information of these dinners, it refused to divulge anything
about the guest list, citing security reasons. It also did not share any
minutes of the meetings.
"I
cannot understand why the details of guests who attended the dinners is a
security concern if revealed now," said city-based activist Syed Shah Ali
Hussaini who filed the RTI.
"We do
not know why most of these dinners were hosted in the first place and what was
their outcome as PMO did not give out any details regarding this. The PMO also
failed to provide copies of communication between PMO and party offices of all
the UPA allies or any government agency regarding the dinners hosted."
"If one
were to go by Planning Commission statements, then Rs 4,478 spent on a single
guest in these dinners is more than the monthly per capita expenditure of a
rural family," said Ali.
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