Chandigarh, Sep 17 (Inditop.com) While Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son and deputy Sukhbhir Singh move in a fleet of bullet-proof Mitsubishi Monteros and Pajeros costing millions, the state government Thursday decided to lower the vehicle category of its bureaucrats as part of its austerity drive.
At a meeting of top officials chaired by Chief Secretary S.C. Aggarwal here Thursday, the government decided to lower the vehicle category entitlement for officers, including the chief secretary, principal secretaries, financial commissioners and heads of departments, in view of the financial crunch in the state.
Under the new rules, the chief secretary, earlier entitled to a Toyota Camry costing over Rs.20 lakh would now be given a Toyota Corolla car (cost Rs.10 lakh).
Principal secretaries and financial commissioners in the rank of chief secretary, who were earlier entitled to Toyota Corollas, can continue to use their cars.
Other officials, including principal secretaries and financial commissioners not in the rank of chief secretary, and administrative secretaries would be entitled to either Honda City or Maruti SX-4 (cost Rs.7-8 lakh), a state government spokesperson said.
Heads of departments, who were earlier entitled to the old government war-horse, the Ambassador car, would now be given a choice between the Ambassador, the Maruti Swift Dzire (diesel) or the Tata Indigo (diesel).
The spokesperson explained that the petrol, oil and lubricant expenses on Ambassador cars were high due to the petrol engine. Besides, the vehicles gave low mileage of 9 km per litre of petrol.
The Swift Dzire or the Tata Indigo besides running on cheaper diesel gave a mileage of of over 15 km per litre.
No cuts have been announced for the chief minister, deputy chief minister and other ministers in the state government.
Besides using expensive SUVs (Monteros and Pajeros), the chief minister and the deputy chief minister have a cavalcade of vehicles following them at all times, including jammer-fitted security vehicles. Both are in the Z-plus security cover category.
rounak