The Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh has spent a whopping amount of Rs 680 crore on advisors appointed for various departments in the state in the last four and a half years.
This was the allegation made by Jana Sena Party political advisory committee chairman Nadendla Manohar at a press conference on Thursday.
He said out of 89 advisors appointed by the government during this period, YSR Congress party general secretary and advisor to the government on public affairs Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy was paid the maximum amount of Rs 140 crore.
Nadendla wondered what precious advice these advisors had given to Jagan in the last four and a half years to improve the governance, after taking such hefty salaries out of public exchequer.
He demanded that the government should disclose in the state assembly what decisions these advisors had given and how many of them had been implemented. He also wondered whether the chief minister can even recall the names of his advisors.
One doesn’t know whether Nadendla has any documentary evidence to prove that the Jagan government had spent Rs 680 crore on advisors in the present tenure or he was just indulging in kite-flying.
If this figure of Rs 680 crore is correct, each of the 89 advisors would be getting an average of Rs 14.14 lakh per month towards their salaries in the last four and a half years. But as per the government order, each advisor would get a salary of Rs 3.8 lakh, including all perks.
Even if one were to take into account the other expenses including travel charges and other incidental expenditure, it will not cross more than Rs 5 lakh per month.
If this is taken into account, the total amount spent on these 89 advisors in the last four and a half years is only Rs 240 crore. So, it is surprising from where Nadendla arrived at the figure of Rs 680 crore.
According to the Jana Sena Party leader, Sajjala himself was paid Rs 140 crore in the last four and a half years. It means he has been getting a salary of nearly Rs 2.60 crore per month!
It will be better Nadendla discloses the documents on payment of salaries to the advisors. Otherwise, there is every possibility that it might be regard just yet another wild allegation against Jagan!
