The Congress Monday questioned the Gujarat government's choice of private telecom company for services for official numbers, saying it paid Rs 2.4 crore more to a private player when the same services were available at a cheaper rate from state-run BSNL. Speaking to reporters here, Congress national spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil sought to know if the government would recover this "additional" sum from the private mobile company.

Referring to the private telecom's selection for providing mobile services for official numbers, he claimed that though BSNL was offering cheaper tariffs, the BJP government chose a private operator and paid it "700 per cent more towards bill payment".

He said the General Administration Department (GAD) has paid Rs 20 lakh more per month between October 2017 to October 2018 (total Rs 2.4 crore in a year) towards mobile bills of around 2,000 numbers allotted to senior government functionaries and state ministers.

"The government's own company BSNL, a central PSU, is offering unlimited calls and data for just Rs 166 per month. On the other hand, as per GAD's agreement with the private company, the government is paying Rs 729 per month for the same service. This is 700 per cent more.

"GAD is paying monthly bills, ranging from Rs 700 to 1,900, of around 2,000 dignitaries. It shows that the BJP government paid Rs 20 lakh more every month.

The Congress leader from Gujarat said BSNL should be roped in by the state government for providing mobile services for official numbers in order to save money.

When contacted, additional chief secretary of GAD Sangeeta Singh was unavailable for a comment in the matter.

(Reported PTI)