Tax Payers’ Money Can’t Be Spent on Mayawati’s Statues: SC
The Supreme Court has reprimanded the Uttar Pradesh government over construction of many memorials of Dalit icons BR Ambedkar, Kanshiram and Mayawati herself.
Instructing the state government, Justice BN Agrawal and Justice Aftab Alam said that there should not be “any further construction on various properties” in Lucknow which are facing litigation in the Allahabad High Court.
Besides, the court said that it could ask the state government to show its budget papers for the memorials, telling its lawyers that tax payers’ money cannot be spent by the administration without accounting for it.
The UP government promised the court that no construction work would be carried out at B R Ambedkar Sthal in Lucknow.
It may be noted that a sum of Rs 550 crore was earmarked for the statues and memorials for Kanshi Ram, Ambedkar and Mayawati in the supplementary Budget presented by the state government on August 3.
The Supreme Court in June issued a notice to the government over plans to build 40 memorials. The memorials were estimated have cost Rs 2,000 crore of public money till then.
