Govt gets an earful over a hearing aid

Ever heard of a hearing aid costing Rs5 lakh? No? Better believe it since deputy chairman of state planning board Ramachandra Gowda seems to have bought one.

Yes, the state government granted Ramachandra Gowda `5 lakh to buy a hearing aid. This surprising piece of news, thrown up during a debate on the second installment of Supplementary Estimates for 2011-12, drew strong criticism from the opposition in the legislative assembly on Friday.

“A whopping `5 lakh for a hearing aid? I cannot believe it. Is there a hearing aid which costs `5 lakh? If there is one, please buy me one as well,” said Siddaramaiah.

Taking the BJP government to task for such unwanted profligacy, he wanted to know what the priorities of the government were.

“Can’t you think before spending the money? Is this the development you keep talking about?” asked Siddaramaiah. “The hearing aid could have been provided from the chief minister’s relief fund. How can you provide funds to buy hearing aid from budgetary allocations?”

As per the supplementary estimates, Gowda received an additional Rs2 lakh to meet his cellphone expenses.
The government also came under fire for clearing `45 lakh towards meeting the travelling expenses of state’s special representative in New Delhi, Dhananjay Kumar.

The Global Investors Meet 2012 is six months away, but the government has already spent `13 crore for the purpose. Increase in salaries, pension and travel allowances for legislators has cost the state exchequer an additional `23.5 crore this financial year.