E-Paper
UP bureaucrats to shell out more for personal use of official vehicle
Yogi Adityanath government doubles the charges to stem unproductive expenditures
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As part of austerity measures and efforts to stem unproductive expenditures, the Yogi Adityanath government has doubled the charges for use of official vehicles for personal purpose by government officials in Uttar Pradesh.
If the state government official provided with official vehicle use it for up to 200 km per month for personal work, he will have to shell out Rs 1000 for a car and Rs 800 for a jeep every month. The rarity of the move can be gauged from the fact that such a hike has come after a gap of 18 years in the Hindi heartland.
Since June 1999, this charge was Rs 500 per month for a car and Rs 400 for a jeep till now which needed to be deposited in the government treasury by the official concerned. Till then, based on an order issued in March 1997, the charge for using official vehicle for personal use was fixed at Rs 250 for a car and Rs 200 for a jeep per month with distance limit also fixed at 200 km per month.
A missive intimating the hike has been issued by UP chief secretary Rajive Kumar for immediate implementation. The missive dated October 24 has been sent to all additional chief secretaries, principal secretaries and secretaries besides all district magistrates and divisional commissioners, informed a senior official of the state finance department.
Right since taking charge, UP CM Yogi Adityanath has tried to put a check on wasteful expenditure of public money in the state.
In July 2017 the UP CM had shot down a proposal to procure two Mercedes Benz SUVs that were to be procured at a cost of Rs 3.5 crore for his own use as CM.
Later, the UP CM had even put a stop on installation of air conditioners (AC), air-coolers, red carpets, saffron towels and sofas seen during field visits of UP CM while expressing ‘extreme unhappiness’ over the extravagant arrangements that were being made for his visits.
