Ghaziabad admin seeks pvt vehicles for election duty, owners object

District magistrate Indra Vikram Singh said that the notices were served as the administration was falling short of vehicles

The Ghaziabad regional transport department has sent a list of at least 4,300 private vehicles to district officials because they want to acquire these vehicles for election purposes, people familiar with the matter said on Saturday.

Transport officials said that a list of 4,300 private vehicles including 700-800 private vehicles like SUVs was sent to the district administration. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The list also includes 700-800 vehicles that are five-seven seater vehicles such as SUVs, whose owners have raised objections against the move.

The officials of the transport department said they are overseeing the transport requirement for the election and have sent a list which includes bigger vehicles such as buses, trucks, and loaders, besides private vehicles such as Scorpio, Bolero, and Ertiga, which have seating capacity of up to seven people.

The vehicle owners said that they strongly object to this move. “I have been receiving calls from officials who are asking me to give away my Ertiga car for election purposes. I am not going to despite several calls from the local police. This is my private vehicle which has been registered in the name of my private firm. If I give away this vehicle, the day-to-day activities of my small firm will be affected,” said Salil Chaudhary, a resident of Rajendra Nagar.

Dinesh Sharma, another resident from Raj Nagar Sector 9, said that he also received a notice to this effect.

“I received a notice for handing over my Innova car for election purposes. The car is currently in Sultanpur and I had given it to my daughter as a wedding gift. This is my family’s personal car and not a commercial vehicle,” Sharma added.

When contacted about the issue, district magistrate Indra Vikram Singh said that the notices were served because the administration was falling short of vehicles. Singh, however, did not disclose how many notices were sent for acquiring vehicles for election purposes.

“We require these vehicles for election duties of observers, sector and zonal magistrates, and we have powers as per norms to take over these vehicles. We will arrange for fuel and also pay up prescribed rental for such vehicles,” Singh added.

When contacted, Gambhir Singh, additional district magistrate (ADM) and in charge of transport, said that data on “the number of notices sent for acquiring vehicles during the election was not readily available due to a holiday on Saturday”.

Transport officials said that a list of 4,300 private vehicles including 700-800 private vehicles like SUVs was sent to the district administration. “These vehicles include buses, trucks and loader vehicles, among others. These may be used for polling staff and also for transporting para-military and police personnel for duties. The private vehicles mostly include vehicles such as Bolero, Scorpio, Innova and Ertiga, which have 5-7 seating capacity. Since we have shortage of these vehicles, a list of private vehicles was also sent,” said Rahul Srivastava, additional regional transport officer (ARTO).

Transport officials said that the private vehicles included in the list were mostly registered in the past two to three years and were in good condition.

“However, if people object to parting with their private vehicles due to genuine concerns such as a family wedding or ailing family members etc, we are open to removing their names from the list. If people have concerns, they can contact us,” ARTO added.

Ghaziabad district goes to polls on April 26.