BENGALURU: Bowing to public outcry and criticism in the media, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah shot down the proposal of legislature secretariat to gift gold biscuits to MLAs and MLCs in the state as part of the diamond jubilee celebrations of Vidhana Soudha.
Expressing his displeasure at the plans Siddaramaiah said there is no need for presenting any expensive mementos for the legislators as part of the two-day celebrations scheduled to be held on October 25 and 26.
Conveying his opinion to the chairman of legislative council DH Shankaramurthy and speaker of legislative assembly KB Koliwad who called on him, Siddaramaiah also expressed his inability to grant Rs 26 crore, for the event. He asked the duo to limit the expenditure for the event at Rs 10 crore.
He also asked the two presiding officers of the legislature to limit the celebrations to a one-day affair instead of two.
According to the earlier proposal submitted by the legislature secretariat to the state government, each of the 300 legislators were to be presented a memento of a gold biscuit costing Rs 50,000 each while the secretariat officers were to presented with a silver plate. The chief minister has now rejected the proposal on presenting costly mementos and also cut down on expenditure on the hospitality for the guests.