NAINITAL:

's office spent a total of Rs 1.03 crore (Rs 1,03,04,162) on tea and snacks during the three years of his tenure. The information was revealed by a Haldwani-based activist who had sought a response to an RTI query he had filed in February.

The RTI reply stated that total expenses incurred on Kejriwal's journeys since he became the chief minister of Delhi stood at Rs 11.99 lakh.

As per the reply received by activist

earlier this week, the expenses in financial year 2015-16 on tea and snacks were calculated to be Rs 23.12 lakh whereas the amount stood at Rs 46.54 lakh in financial year 2016-17.

In year 2017-18, an amount of Rs 33.36 lakh was spent on tea and snacks at the Delhi CM's office. Notably, a RTI query in 2016 had revealed that Kejriwal drew up a bill of Rs 47.29 lakh - Rs 22,42,320 at his secretariat office and Rs 24,86,921 at his residence camp office - for tea and snacks.

Commenting on the expenses, Gauniya said, "This is an expense which should be controlled and the money should be spent on people who are not in a condition to afford a single meal in a day. I hope the government will cut such expenses for the greater good." There was no response from the Delhi CM's office at the time of filing this report.

The break up of the expenses points out that the money was spent in two offices of the Delhi CM- one at the secretariat and the camp office.

The CM moved into a complex with two duplex flats, having five bedrooms each on Bhagwan Das Road in Central Delhi in 2014. Kejriwal lives in one of the duplex apartments with his family, while the other one is being used as the camp office.

Break up of his expenses reveals that in year 2015-16, out of the total Rs 23,12,430, expenses of the camp office stood at Rs 5,59,280 while expenses of tea and snacks in his secretariat office stood at Rs 17,53,150.

In year 2016-17, out of total money of Rs 46,54,833 spent on tea and snacks, Rs 15,91,631 was spent in the secretariat office while Rs 30,63,202 was spent in the camp office.

In financial year 2017-18 in which total figure spent on tea and snacks by Delhi CM stood at Rs 33,36,899, expenses in the secretariat office were Rs 6,92,284 while in the camp office it was Rs 26,44,615.

In a similar RTI filed by the same activist in February this year, it was revealed that Uttarakhand CM

spent over Rs 68 lakh on snacks and refreshment for his guests in 10 months of his tenure.

In 2016, Uttar Pradesh was in news for the state government’s expense of nearly Rs 9 crore on tea and snacks in four years since the

(SP) had come to power.