Budget: Rs 1,249 crore for salaries of federal ministers, entertaining guests, former governors

The mid-term budget for 2024-25 announced on Thursday allocated Rs 1,248.91 cr for expenses of the Council of Ministers, Cabinet Secretariat, Prime Minister’s Office and hospitality and entertainment of state guests. The allocation amount is significantly lower than the Rs 1803.01 crore earmarked for 2023-24.

A total of Rs 832.81 crore has been provided for the Council of Ministers (Rs 1289.28 crore in 2023-24). This funding covers the salaries, luxury and other allowances and travel expenses of cabinet ministers, ministers of state and former prime ministers. This also includes providing special additional flight operations for VVIPs.

The National Security Council Secretariat has been allocated Rs 200 crore (Rs 299.3 billion in 2023-24). This funding is used to cover the administrative costs of the National Security Council Secretariat and the space program.

Up to Rs 762 million has been allocated to the Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser (Rs 750 million in 2023-24). The funds cover administrative costs for the Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser and the National Research Foundation. The Cabinet Secretariat has allocated Rs 700 million (Rs 702.8 million in 2023-24) to meet the administrative expenses of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

The Prime Minister’s Office has allocated Rs 653 million (Rs 626.5 million in 2023-24) to meet administrative expenses. The budget has allocated Rs 4 crore for hospitality and entertainment expenses (Rs 4 crore in 2023-24).

This fund is used for the government’s reception and entertainment of foreign state guests, official receptions arranged on behalf of the Vice President and Prime Minister at the Presidential Palace, National Day receptions, investiture ceremonies, and letter-of-credentials submission ceremonies. The budget has allocated Rs 1.8 billion for secretariat assistance to former governors (Rs 1.3 billion in 2023-24). The funding was used to pay for the former governor’s secretariat assistance.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from associated news agency – PTI)