PM spent Rs 7721 per plate on UPA dinner

This is one revelation that will make Prime Minister Manmohan Singh eat his own words.

Days after Dr Singh begged the nation for their trust and sought to detail that money does not grow on trees, an Right to Information query has revealed that the prime minister spent Rs 7,721 on each plate of dinner that was served at the third anniversary celebrations of the UPA-II government held at his residence in New Delhi in May.

According to the reply received by activist Ramesh Verma, Rs 11,34,296 was spent on food at the dinner party. 

The extravaganza comes at a time when the Planning Commission defined poverty level as Rs 32 per capita for urban areas and Rs 26 per capita for rural areas.

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A sum of Rs 14,42,678 was spent on tent arrangements and Rs 26,444 was shelled out for flowers. 

The total bill of an 'austere' government's dinner party was Rs 28,95,503.

Dr Singh had invited 603 people for the party but only 375 invitees attended it, reports said.

The Prime Minister's Office was the charge of hospitality arrangements and the payment of PMO's dinner was made by the Central Public Works Department and foreign ministry under the hospitality grant.