The Mayor of Hyderabad (center) and his colleagues approved the 512GB iPhone 12 Max phones for themselves.
Hyderabad:
A staggering order for 17 spec iPhones, each costing Rs 1.6 lakh, for senior city officials in Hyderabad was put on hold after outrage. The outgoing standing committee of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, headed by the mayor, had gifted itself the flashy gadgets for having approved the civic body’s annual budget estimates.
This occurred at a time when the revenue of the state of Telangana was seriously affected, like all other states, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Hyderabad witnessed the worst flooding in its history causing widespread and enormous suffering. damage to public and private property.
The standing committee, whose term ends in February 2021 when a new panel will be elected, met on Thursday to pass 14 resolutions and approved the estimated annual budget of Rs 5.6 billion for the corporation.
“It is this kind of blatant abuse of power by the TRS that has led to people rejecting them in the GHMC elections,” said Krishnasagar, a BJP spokesman, referring to the recent municipal elections.
“When the GHMC has no money to even pay salaries to staff, who has given them the right to gift themselves, using public money?” said Krishnasagar, whose party surprised the ruling TRS by winning 48 out of 150 districts while the ruling party won 56.
Mayor Bonthu Rammohan cited the “tradition” of giving away laptops and tablets in the past to approve the budget, saying that this time iPhones should be turned over to the mayor, deputy mayor and other members of the standing committee. In addition, he recommended the same expensive iPhone 12 Pro Max 512GB to staff, including an assistant commissioner, a personal secretary to the mayor, and an additional personal secretary to the mayor.
The same proposal to give iPhones to the standing committee was also made in June, but was not approved. Documents accessed by NDTV suggest that an administrative penalty has been granted for the acquisition of 17 iPhones at Rs 31 lakh.
Critics point out that despite the so-called “tradition”, the outgoing team should have shown some sensitivity, as this was a year of massive flooding in Hyderabad when citizens suffered huge economic losses.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government had promised to pay 10,000 rupees to each family affected by the floods, but many still complain that they have not received compensation.
“They made us wait hours in queues during this Covid time and they still didn’t pay us the amount. Those who received it had to pay a commission of Rs 1,000-2,000 rupees to the local politician. And these people generously gifted each other expensive phones,” he rolled. Chandrakala, a resident of Aiyernagar.
Others pointed out that the government does not have the money to install new sewer lines and yet it was taking unnecessary liberties with taxpayers’ money.
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