Try GOLD - Free
Taxpayers fund Pondy mins' tea parties, over ₹1 crore splurged in 4 years
The New Indian Express Coimbatore
|February 24, 2025
OVER ₹1 crore has been spent on tea, coffee, and bouquets in the offices of Puducherry ministers over the last four years, according to a Right to Information (RTI) response received by social activist B Ashok Raja.
Ashok Raja had sought details of expenditure incurred by ministers' offices under the RTI Act. In response, the Public Information Officer of the ministry provided details revealing that from May 2021 to November 2024, ₹41,72,415 was spent on tea and coffee, while ₹61,00,505 was spent on bouquets. Moreover, nearly ₹80,000 was spent on fuel by ministers' offices in a single month during this period, the RTI reply revealed.
This story is from the February 24, 2025 edition of The New Indian Express Coimbatore.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM The New Indian Express Coimbatore
The New Indian Express Coimbatore
'Don't use tourist visa for purpose of giving birth': US warns Indian appliers
Indian nationals anxious with change in laws
1 min
December 13, 2025
The New Indian Express Coimbatore
MahaYuti stays united, seals Maha seat deal for BMC polls
THE BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena are set to contest the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections—scheduled for next month—unitedly.
1 min
December 13, 2025
The New Indian Express Coimbatore
CLIMATE SCIENCE IS NOT A HOAX, DON'T GAMBLE
SIR ROBERT WATSON'S BLUNT MESSAGE TO CLIMATE BLOCKERS
4 mins
December 13, 2025
The New Indian Express Coimbatore
Minister, scholar, LS speaker: Multi-faceted Shivraj Patil passes away
FORMER Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil Chakurkar passed away at 90 on Friday morning at his native Latur in Maharashtra after a brief illness.
1 mins
December 13, 2025
The New Indian Express Coimbatore
Ajithkumar case: DSP, 3 others named as suspects
THE CBI has added the names of former Manamadurai deputy superintendent of police N Shanmugasundaram and three other policemen as suspects in the case relating to alleged custodial torture and death of B Ajithkumar, a security guard of Madapuram Badrakali Amman temple in Sivaganga.
1 min
December 13, 2025
The New Indian Express Coimbatore
Ops to hunt terrorists in Jammu forests
AFTER a series of encounters and brief gunfights in the forest belts of Jammu region in the last six months, security forces have launched a major winter offensive to track down militants hiding in the dense and rugged forest areas.
1 min
December 13, 2025
The New Indian Express Coimbatore
House truth: Gujarat’s road safety gap widens
FRESH Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha data have exposed serious problems in Gujarat’s road management system.
1 mins
December 13, 2025
The New Indian Express Coimbatore
OUTFOXING AI, FOR BETTER OR VERSE
A paper on ar Xiv by researchers at the Icaro Lab in Italy has set off a firestorm of headlines.
3 mins
December 13, 2025
The New Indian Express Coimbatore
CM says rehab new path for social integration in C’garh
TEN cadres of the banned CPI (Maoist) surrendered before the police in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma on Friday, choosing to step away from violence and return to the mainstream.
1 mins
December 13, 2025
The New Indian Express Coimbatore
DRAVIDIAN DESIGN: FORGOTTEN GENIUS OF TN IDENTITY
OR a country as vast and layered as India, a single, monolithic \"Indian design\" is an impossibility - and perhaps even an injustice.
3 mins
December 13, 2025
Listen
Translate
Change font size