Govt. busts Rs. 56 mn. on SAARC entertainment. >> රට පෙරට >> අපි වලට >>
The government will spend over Rs. 56 million on entertainment alone during the SAARC Summit while the entire summit will cost the nation over Rs. 2,800 million.
The Rs. 56 million for seven days is listed under Head 1405. The head interestingly has another unexplained allocation of Rs. 15 million for expenses titled — ‘others.’
The government on Tuesday (8) presented a mammoth supplementary estimate to parliament for over Rs. 2,800 million to finance the upcoming SAARC Summit scheduled to be held from July 27 - August 3 in Colombo.
The amount, according to the breakdown is Rs. 401,881,272 for recurrent expenditure and Rs. 2,478,299,069 for capital expenditure totaling to Rs. 2,880,180,332.
Under Head 1405 titled ‘other expenditure’ a massive Rs. 176,514,237 is voted in. This sum includes Rs. 52,62,967 for accommodation, Rs. 56,406,520 for entertainment, Rs.7, 500,000 for cultural activities, Rs.28, 050,000 for seminars and exhibitions and Rs. 3,500,000 for publications and advertisements.
Further, the government will spend Rs. 1,200,000 for gifts alone and another allocation of Rs. 15,247,500 is made for ‘others.’
Significantly, the decision to hold the summit in Colombo was reached after the annual estimates were approved for the year 2008 and hence did not budget for the holding of the event here.
Accordingly, for the SAARC work, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will now receive a total of Rs. 354,417,497, Ministry of Cultural Affairs some Rs. 2,960,000 and the Department of Police a total of Rs. 2,168,315,735.
SOURCE
The government will spend over Rs. 56 million on entertainment alone during the SAARC Summit while the entire summit will cost the nation over Rs. 2,800 million.
The Rs. 56 million for seven days is listed under Head 1405. The head interestingly has another unexplained allocation of Rs. 15 million for expenses titled — ‘others.’
The government on Tuesday (8) presented a mammoth supplementary estimate to parliament for over Rs. 2,800 million to finance the upcoming SAARC Summit scheduled to be held from July 27 - August 3 in Colombo.
The amount, according to the breakdown is Rs. 401,881,272 for recurrent expenditure and Rs. 2,478,299,069 for capital expenditure totaling to Rs. 2,880,180,332.
Under Head 1405 titled ‘other expenditure’ a massive Rs. 176,514,237 is voted in. This sum includes Rs. 52,62,967 for accommodation, Rs. 56,406,520 for entertainment, Rs.7, 500,000 for cultural activities, Rs.28, 050,000 for seminars and exhibitions and Rs. 3,500,000 for publications and advertisements.
Further, the government will spend Rs. 1,200,000 for gifts alone and another allocation of Rs. 15,247,500 is made for ‘others.’
Significantly, the decision to hold the summit in Colombo was reached after the annual estimates were approved for the year 2008 and hence did not budget for the holding of the event here.
Accordingly, for the SAARC work, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will now receive a total of Rs. 354,417,497, Ministry of Cultural Affairs some Rs. 2,960,000 and the Department of Police a total of Rs. 2,168,315,735.
SOURCE
