Srinagar, Sep 24 : Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather on Thursday reprimanded Transport Minister Satish Sharma over the delay in implementing a report of a high-level committee on allotment of official vehicles to government officials.
"The high-level committee has submitted its report on September 1. What have you done in 24 days? Why the delay in implementing the report?" Rather asked Sharma during the Question Hour.
The speaker said a "poor state" like Jammu and Kashmir cannot afford "such luxuries for officers when people are suffering".
Rather intervened when Sharma was replying to a question by BJP MLA R S Pathania regarding the implementation of ‘One Officer, One Vehicle’ ceiling across all departments, PSUs, boards and autonomous bodies to curb retention of multiple official vehicles by officers.
Sharma initially tried to justify the delay, saying, "It is a legacy issue which will be addressed".
However, an irked speaker asked the minister, "If the previous policy is wrong, are you going to continue it?"
"Why does an officer need two vehicles if he has two charges? Why cannot he use the same vehicle for both? You should address this issue," Rather added.
Sharma assured the speaker that he will inform the House about the latest status of ‘One Officer One Vehicle’ during the current session of the assembly.
In the written reply to Pathania's question, the government said there is no specific government policy prescribing a uniform ceiling for allotment/retention of official vehicles for individual officers across all departments.
"However, the revised car policy is presently under consideration of the government, wherein it has been proposed to introduce the principle of One Vehicle, One Officer. The proposed policy shall also provide for such specific exceptions as may be considered necessary by the government, keeping in view security requirements, field duties, additional assignments/charges, operational exigencies and the functional requirements," it added.
