Maya spent Rs 4,500 cr on memorials

Over Rs 300 crore was spent on construction of statues and murals in Lucknow in first two years of BSP rule.

Over Rs 150 crore was spent on boundary walls to protect different memorials and statues in Lucknow.

Rs 564 lakh was spent on construction of a 530-m boundary wall at Kanshiram Smarak i.e. one metre of boundary wall cost over Rs 1 lakh.

Using the Right to Information RTI Act as a tool,the Congress on Tuesday made public the expenditure incurred on different memorials across Lucknow during the first two years of the BSP government in Uttar Pradesh.

The information was sought from the Estate department of Uttar Pradesh with the aim to challenge claims made by Mayawati in her recent Maharally that less than 1 per cent of states planned expenditure had been incurred on memorials. The Congress also alleged that since expenditure was also under vague heads like new work or additional work,it indicates that public money has been siphoned off for the benefit of a few through these projects.

To this date,just vague figures were given as expenditures by the Mayawati government on memorials but through the RTI,we have tried to expose the Mayawati government and her claim that less than 1 per cent has been spent on memorials and statues. The expenditure is clearly 1/3rd of the planned expenditure in state, said Akhilesh Pratap Singh of the Congress who had filed an RTI application last year and got the reply recently.

The Congress alleged that such a huge expenditure had been incurred on the construction of memorials without any detailed project report or seeking proper no-objection certificates from ministries concerned. It is a crime committed by the state government and this is just the beginning,we will continue to expose the UP government in this manner in the coming days, added Singh.