Expenses at president Pranab Mukherjee's secretariat up: RTI

In the past three financial years, the expenditure on president Pranab Mukherjee's secretariat has increased by one third.

A Right to Information (RTI) query to president's office by applicant Mansoor Umer Darvesh revealed that in 2012-13 the expenditure on president's secretariat under Major Head, Appropriation-Staff, Household and Allowances of the president was Rs30.96 crore. The following year, it increased to Rs38.70 crore. During the last fiscal — 2014-15 — it shot up to Rs41.96 crore.

President Mukherjee had taken charge in July 2012 as the 13th President of India. There are a total of 754 people working in the president's secretariat, of which 9 are private secretaries, and 27 are drivers.

The salaries of the staff at the secretariat come to a sum of over Rs1.5 crore. "Total salary of all employees of the president's secretariat for the month of May 2015 is Rs1,51,48,958," read the RTI reply.

Whereas monthly telephone bills are over five lakhs rupees. In May 2015 the telephone bill was Rs5,06,531.

"I had even sought details about the total number of security staff deployed as well as expenditures incurred on electricity. But details on the same has not been provided with by Central Public Information Officer Shakil Alam at the secretariat," said Darvesh.