As per an RTI reply, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah’s office spends nearly ₹54 lakh per month to maintain his social media accounts, both official and personal.
It has been learnt that RTI activist Marlinga Gowda Mali Patil had filed his plea after he heard the costs were “hefty” at a time “development work had come to a standstill” due to alleged lack of funds and the Congress government struggled to pay contractors for work in various departments.
CMO officials confirmed Siddaramaiah’s social media expenditure while pointing out that the sum was far less than over ₹2 crore per month which previous chief ministers had spent in this regard.
An entirely owned government entity Karnataka State Marketing Communication and Advertising Ltd (MCA) has, reportedly, replied to Patil that the CMO spent close to ₹3 crore from Oct 25 last year to March 2024. The details showed the CMO paid around ₹53.9 lakh every month, including 18 per cent GST.
The payments were made to The Policy Front, a company which handles Siddaramaiah’s accounts. It has a team of around 35 people.
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