BENGALURU: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah‘s office spends nearly Rs 54 lakh per month to maintain his social media accounts, both official and personal, according to an RTI reply.
RTI activist Marlinga Gowda Mali Patil said he had filed his plea after he heard the costs were “hefty” at a time “development work had come to a standstill” due to alleged lack of funds and the Congress govt struggled to pay contractors for work in various departments.
CMO officials confirmed Siddaramaiah’s social media expenditure while pointing out that the sum was far less than the over Rs 2 crore per month previous CMs had spent on this head. According to the reply to Patil from Karnataka State Marketing Communication and Advertising Ltd (MCA) – a wholly owned govt entity – the CMO spent close to Rs 3 crore from Oct 25 last year to March 2024. The details showed the CMO paid around Rs 53.9 lakh every month, including 18% GST.
The payments were made to The Policy Front, a company which handles Siddaramaiah’s accounts with a dedicated team of around 35.
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