early times report
jammu, Feb 2: During the past two decades there has been an alarming increase in the number of VIPs. Non-entities contest elections to do democracy a favour in this neglected land. They lose their deposits but get a police vehicle and security guards as well. This is enough to make him feel like a VIP.
While the Security Wing Jammu is providing 360 vehicles including Bullet Proof Cars, Plain Cars and Maruti Gypsies to the 236 protected persons, its counterpart in Kashmir is pressing into service as many as 605 security vehicles to 383 individuals.
"The number of protected persons other than the Governor, Chief Minister, Ministers, MLAs, MLCs and senior police and government officers is 108 in Jammu region while the number of such category of persons is much higher in Kashmir region.... The others include former ministers, ex-MLAs, MLCs and in addition a large number of those politicians who are not even recognized names in their respective party circles...," sources said.
The government especially its police department is overburdened by providing security to such VIPS. But the DGP had hinted at a change in the trend last month.
The government has mulled up to withdraw all the government vehicles provided to politicians including former MLAS, MLCs, MPs and ministers. Reports said the DGP, Ashok Prasad, after having a review of the security Vehicles to VIPs, and VVIPs in the state, mulled up a proposal to withdraw all government vehicles from the politicians of the state expect the sitting MLAs, MLCs and ministers and forwarded it to the government for its final nod, which according to sources has been reverted back to the DGP with a positive note.
Now as the department has started implementing the decision, the former ministers and other politicians will not be able to travel in the government vehicle anymore. In the proposal the DGP has recommended hiring up private vehicles to save the extra burden on the department.
These vehicles were used by the ministers, ex ministers, other leaders and are eating up crores of rupees of the polices department. Many of them don`t need security but still they had government vehicles allotted to them. The sitting MPs, MLAs, MLCs and ministers, however, have been exempted and they will continue to enjoy royal ride as usual. In its first phase the government has mulled up to hire at least 250 vehicles for this purpose and soon a tender in this regard will be invited from the interested firms.
The figures provided by the sources indicate that Security wing purchased vehicles worth Rs 15,60,38000 from 2009 till date while it also procured tyres, batteries and spare parts worth Rs 15,30,80000 during the same period which means more than Rs 31 crores have been spent over the last more than four years. |
