The Kerala state govt has spent Rs 82.29 lakh for renovating 'Cantonment House", the official residence of CPI(M) leader VS Achuthanandan between 2011 and 2015.

The expenditure was borne by the state government in the last few years and this was placed on record by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the Kerala state assembly.

Replying to a question posed by MLA AC Balakrishnan, the CM presented documents in the assembly and explained the break up of the expenditure.

While Rs 13.60 lakh was spent for purchasing items, Rs 61.47 lakh was spent on civil work.

An amount of Rs 17.79 lakh was used for paying electricity bills and other related work while Rs 8.14 lakh was used to pay telephone bills

Apart from this, Rs 4.92 lakh was the bill incurred from just his office in the house.

Frugal spending for Oommen Chandy

While work at the Cantonment house cost the state exchequer Rs 82.29 lakh, Rs 5.67 lakh was spent to renovate the cantonment house when Oommen Chandy was residing there between 2006-11.

The Cantonment house

The current resident of the prestigious cantonment house is opposition leader Ramesh Chentinala. 

Stalwarts like C Kesavan, P K Kunju and C Achutha Menon have been residents of the house. EK Nayanar had used the residence when he was chief minister in 1980 but later the house became the official residence of the leader of the opposition.