Ludhiana: Eyebrows raised over outsourcing vehicles in MC despite own fleet

Congress councillor and Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC) member Gaurav Bhatti has questioned the municipal corporation’s decision to hire vehicles on rent despite having its own fleet and sought an inquiry by MC commissioner Ojasvi Alankar into the expenditure and allotment of vehicles

Congress councillor and Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC) member Gaurav Bhatti has questioned the municipal corporation’s decision to hire vehicles on rent despite having its own fleet and sought an inquiry by MC commissioner Ojasvi Alankar into the expenditure and allotment of vehicles.

Congress councillor and Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC) member Gaurav Bhatti. (HT File)

Bhatti said the corporation was paying around ₹60,000 a month as rent for each hired vehicle, apart from bearing the cost of diesel, drivers and maintenance.

“The total monthly expenditure could be between ₹1 lakh and ₹1.5 lakh per vehicle, amounting to ₹3 lakh to ₹4.5 lakh for three vehicles,” he said.

According to Bhatti, the rented vehicles include PB-65-BH-1675, PB-10-HS-9777 and TEMP-8779.

He questioned the need for hiring them when the MC already has vehicles bearing registration numbers PB-10-HT-2597, PB-10-HL-6094, PB-10-GK-6058 and PB-10-KD-5914.

In his complaint to the commissioner, Bhatti has also sought an inquiry into the allotment of MC-owned vehicles to two officials and said that another vehicle was currently parked at the workshop.

He has asked the commissioner to make public the allotment orders, applicable rules, approval details and the names and designations of the officials who authorised the assignments.

Bhatti has further sought the commissioner’s scrutiny of vehicle logbooks, duty slips and fuel records for the past 18 months, besides a complete list of vehicles allotted from the workshop.

He said the records would establish whether the vehicles were allotted and used in accordance with the prescribed rules.

He has also asked the commissioner to take action against officials if the inquiry finds that vehicles were allotted in violation of rules and sought the return of improperly allotted vehicles to the MC’s vehicle pool.

The councillor said any financial loss caused by retaining vehicles allotted in violation of rules should be recovered from the responsible workshop staff or officials in accordance with applicable rules, including through salary recovery where necessary.

Bhatti said his complaint was not directed against any individual but concerned the use of public funds and financial accountability and has sought an impartial inquiry by the commissioner and public disclosure of the findings.

Calls and texts made to commissioner Ojasvi Alankar seeking a response on the allegations went unanswered.