Belagavi session: Simple lunch, no dinner for legislators

In an effort to cut down the expenditure on organising the legislature session by 20-30 per cent, the government will withdraw some facilities provided to legislators and officials.

MLAs and MLCs will now be provided with simple meals during the legislature session, Legislative Assembly Deputy Speaker Shivashankar Reddy N H and Legislative Council Deputy Chairman Puttanna told reporters here on Tuesday after holding a preliminary meeting ahead of the winter session of the legislature set to begin here on December 9.

Breakfast will be served at the place of their accommodation. Lunch will be a simple fare and they will have to pay for dinner for their own pockets, Shivashankar said.

During the last session, legislators were provided with private vehicles as well as travelling allowance.

The government had spent over Rs two crore on travelling expenditure alone. But now, the facility will be withdrawn and elected representatives and officials will have to manage their conveyance in the travelling allowance they will get.

The government had spent Rs 10 crore on organising the last legislature session in Belagavi. It now intends to reduce that expenditure by about 30 percent.

At least two days of the session will be devoted to discussion on problems of the north Karnataka region, he added.