Mangaluru: Ministers in former chief minister Siddaramaiah’s cabinet spent Rs 24 crore in travel allowances during their five-year term.

They were paid Rs 30 per km for travel and their daily allowances were Rs 2000 per day (within Karnataka) and Rs 2500 per day (outside the state) Revealing this information, Right To Information (RTI) activist Bhimappa Gadad, questioned the rationale behind such huge expenditure. All ministers used luxury cars for their travel, he added.

“They used taxpayer’s money for personal comfort. The money could have been used for development works instead,” Gadad pointed out.

U T Khader, who was Health Minister then, availed travel allowances amounting to Rs 1,56,08,590 and he tops the list. Following him were, former Forest Minister Ramanath Rai (Rs 1,52,36,321) and the then Law Minister T B Jayachandra (Rs 99,72,041).