Who pocketed the cash?

Ministers and PWD officials point fingers at each other, now that it has come to light that they collected inflated bills for furniture purchase and bungalow repair

Who pocketed the cash?

Ministers and PWD officials point fingers at each other, now that it has come to light that they collected inflated bills for furniture purchase and bungalow repair

Public works officials are pocketing crores by inflating bills for the repair of ministers' houses, two ministers told MiD DAY.

Law minister S Suresh Kumar and wakf minister Mumtaz Ali Khan are outraged at the bills presented by PWD officials for work done at their homes.

Records say Yeddyurppa purchased furniture worth Rs 9.8 lakh after he became chief minister last year. He also spent a whopping Rs 4.6 lakh just to get his bungalow painted.

Interestingly, Yeddyurappa had spent Rs 33.06 lakh on the bungalow in 2007 when he was deputy CM in H D Kumaraswamy's cabinet.

All bogus

Suresh Kumar suspects PWD officials are cooking up the books. The files in the PWD say he spent Rs 6.26 lakh to redo his bungalow.

"That much just to repair a sump and replace bathroom tiles?" he wondered.u00a0 The department, he says, has collected bills for Rs 10 lakh for just two tables and some chairs!

Mumtaz Ali Khan similarly believes officials are hoodwinking him. "We had asked for a sofa set and two cots and some small items," he said. "I am shocked to see the Rs 9.2 lakh bill they have collected."u00a0 Both ministers admit they signed acknowledgements for the material, but assert the papers made no mention of the prices.

Not true, say PWD officials. Someone from the minister's family always accompanies officials when they go out and buy stuff, an official claimed.u00a0

"In fact, Suresh Kumar's wife had accompanied us when we purchased the furniture," a PWD official told MiD DAY.

Savithri, Suresh Kumar's wife, was furious to hear that. "I never went with them for shopping. The items they gave us look old. Nobody can say they cost Rs 10 lakh," she told MiD DAY.

"A minister is entitled to furniture purchases worth Rs 10 lakh in a five-year term," said Shivanandappa, assistant executive engineer, PWD.

Khan's wife Jameela said she had no clue about the prices either. "They didn't show me any bills; they said they would take care of all that," she said.u00a0

She had the same complaint as Savitri: "They gave us an old cot, and replaced it only when we protested," she said.

Higher education minister Aravind Limbavali is at the bottom of the splurge list, with expenses of just Rs 5,330.
That's what he spent on furniture, and he has not spent a paisa on renovating his bungalow.

SHOCK LAGA KYA?
>>Bill to replace bathroom tiles, repair a sump: Rs 6.26 lakh
>>Bill for two tables, 10 wooden chairs and 20 plastic chairs: Rs 10 lakh

The whistle blower
>>Bheemappa Gundappa Gadad (50) is a humble farmer from Beguam district. He has brought down the mighty by filing public interest cases.
>>His work helped the government evict erstwhile ministers from their bungalows, and collect dues from them. They owed Rs 1.32 crore (towards electricity and water), and the government recovered Rs 50 lakh in just two days, thanks to Gadad's activism.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels