How much does Cabinet cost?

Summary

This short PTI news clipping, headlined “How much does Cabinet cost?”, reports the running cost of India’s Union Council of Ministers as tabled in the Rajya Sabha. Deputy Home Minister K. S. Ramaswamy laid a statement on Tuesday putting the revised estimate of salary and other allowances of Union Ministers and Deputy Ministers at Rs 42,66,399 for 1969-70, against Rs 43,79,907 actually spent in 1968-69. The 1967-68 outlay, covering salary, sumptuary and other allowances, tour expenses, and the upkeep of government accommodation, is given as Rs 34,60,491, spread across 55 Central Ministers and Deputy Ministers.

The clipping goes on to note that the government also disclosed, for the same three years, the expenditure on the 278 former rulers of the princely states. The figures for the privy purses and the associated establishment run to several crores — of the order of Rs 4,81,34,415 in 1967-68 and Rs 4,79,67,565 in 1968-69 — dwarfing the cost of the Cabinet itself, an implicit contrast the piece invites the reader to draw.

Key points

• PTI news clipping reporting Cabinet-cost figures tabled in the Rajya Sabha.
• Revised estimate of Union Ministers’ and Deputy Ministers’ salary/allowances for 1969-70: Rs 42,66,399.
• Actual expenditure in 1968-69 was Rs 43,79,907; in 1967-68 it was Rs 34,60,491.
• The 1967-68 figure covers salary, sumptuary and other allowances, tour expenses, and government accommodation.
• There are 55 Central Ministers and Deputy Ministers in the Union government.
• Deputy Home Minister K. S. Ramaswamy laid the statement in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
• The clipping also cites expenditure on the 278 former rulers of the princely states — of the order of Rs 4,81,34,415 in 1967-68 and Rs 4,79,67,565 in 1968-69 — a figure many times larger than the Cabinet’s own cost.