Chhattisgarh officials appear to be in a rush to buy luxury cars at the government expense for their official use.
Senior bureaucrats who are authorised to purchase official vehicles from the state exchequer prefer to drive luxury vehicles. The officials are purchasing vehicles equipped with advanced and modern specifications, at costs beyond their entitlement.
Even while hiring the vehicles for official purposes, officials prefer swanky vehicles, no matter what they are allowed to or not.
Taking a serious note of this, the Chhattisgarh government has decided to do away with the 'luxury drive of the senior officials'. The state finance department has issued a circular expressing resentment at purchase of luxury cars. It has also issued guidelines that are to be strictly followed.
The department's circular issued to all the heads of different departments, boards, corporations and district collectors says that the purchase and hiring of luxury vehicles had come to the notice of the state government. "It is highly objectionable and against government norms as the practice flouts the principle of austerity," the circular said.
Ajay Singh, the state's principal secretary in the department of finance, said that the department would recover the money from the salary of the officials concerned if they continued to violate norms. Besides, the government would take strict disciplinary action against the erring officials, he added.
Officials will no longer be eligible to take the vehicle allotted to them out of headquarters. In a special case, they would be allowed to use it outside too, but the mileage and average fuel consumption would be fixed by the superintendent of the state garage.
