All arrangements, including expenses under various heads, for the 10-day legislature session in Belagavi to be held from December 10 will now be overseen by an IAS officer.
Based on instructions of Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar, Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar has appointed Ujwal Kumar Ghosh, Commissioner of Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation for the Upper Krishna Project, as the Special Officer for the Belagavi session.
A notification to this effect has been issued. “The Special Officer will work in coordination with the Regional Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Belagavi. He is already on the job,” the Chief Secretary told The Hindu on Saturday.
Admitting that it was for the first time in recent years that a Special Officer has been appointed to oversee arrangements, the Chief Secretary said Mr. Ghosh was also responsible for checking wasteful expenditure.
Sources in the Assembly Secretariat said the Speaker, who is concerned about the huge expenditure incurred last year, was keen on checking all unnecessary expenses. Mr. Ramesh Kumar has also stripped Assembly Secretary A. Murthy of executive powers and has put Assembly Director M.K. Vishalakshi in charge of administrative aspects of holding the session.
The expenses incurred on Belagavi session have been increasing year after year. Last year, ₹31 crore had been spent on the 10-day session and the expenditure in 2016 was ₹18.75 crore. In 2015, the expenditure was only ₹8.2 crore. Sources said Mr. Ramesh Kumar had asked for a Special Officer to oversee the session as he suspected misappropriation of funds in the session expenses.