Snacks items like tea, samosa and gulab jamun presented to guests by the ministers in Uttar Pradesh have cost the state exchequer almost Rs. 9 crore under the rule of Akhilesh Yadav government in four years.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday disclosed in the state assembly the amount splurged over snacks items by the ministers. Yadav said that a sum of Rs. 8,78,12,474 was used to offer snacks to guests between March 15, 2012, to March 15, 2016, by the state ministers.
Yadav disclosed the name of the ministers along with the amount that was splurged by them over snacks. He stated that the Minister of State (Independent Charge), Arun Kumar Kori, had topped the list by spending an amount of Rs. 22,93,800 during her four years of governance as Social Welfare minister. Kori was followed by Urban Development Minister Mohammad Azam Khan, who spent Rs. 22,86,620 entertaining guests over snacks.
The data also stated that the Minister for Child Development and Nutrition, Primary Education, Kailash Chaurasia came third in the list by spending Rs. 22,85,900 on snacks items. However, PWD Minister Shivpal Yadav, who is uncle of Akhilesh Yadav, did not spend any money on refreshments.
Some of the other ministers who were the top spenders included Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Ram Karan Arya and Land Development and Water Resources Minister Jagdish Sonkar.
