WAJAHAT SHABIR
SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Wednesday directed the government to notify the new government vehicle management policy within 15 days, expressing strong concern over the prolonged delay in finalising the policy and alleged misuse of official vehicles.
The direction came after the Speaker took up the status report submitted by the government on the formulation of the new car policy and questioned why the process had remained pending for nearly five years. The Speaker said the existing car policy, framed in 2015, had become outdated, particularly because the prescribed price ceilings no longer reflected current vehicle prices, taxes, and emission norms.
According to the report placed before the House, the General Administration Department had constituted a committee to formulate a new policy, comprising the Administrative Secretaries of the GAD, Transport and Hospitality & Protocol departments, along with the Director, State Motor Garages.
The committee formulated a detailed policy and submitted its report to the GAD in 2021.
However, the Speaker noted that the policy remained stuck in inter-departmental consultations thereafter.
The Transport Department subsequently sought notification of the policy, while the GAD sought Finance Department comments. The Finance Department, in October 2022, asked the department to provide details of the financial implications. The Director, State Motor Garages, furnished the required information in January 2023, while the department again approached the Finance Department in September 2023 for consideration and concurrence.
The Finance Department subsequently advised the department to first work out the actual requirement and financial implications. A committee was then constituted and held several meetings to examine issues including prevailing market prices of vehicles, entitlement of different categories of government functionaries and operational requirements.
The last meeting of the committee was held on July 20, 2024, after which its recommendations were finalised. The GAD subsequently conveyed approval/concurrence of the committee chairman to the draft Government Vehicle Management Policy on September 1.
The Speaker, however, questioned the continued movement of the file between departments.
“For five years, this file has been moving back and forth from one secretariat door to another, from one desk to another,” the Speaker observed, terming the delay “astonishing” and “deeply regrettable”.
He said the issue involved public resources and raised concerns over cases where officers allegedly possessed more vehicles than their entitlement.
“If an officer is entitled to one vehicle and has three, at whose cost are they using those three vehicles? At the cost of the public exchequer,” the Speaker said, stressing that misuse of public resources must be contained.
The report further stated that the draft policy had been examined by the Transport Department for inter-departmental consultations and had again been submitted to the Finance Department for concurrence.
The Speaker objected to further delays, saying the matter had already undergone extensive consultations.
He also pointed out that, following the concerns raised in the House, additional vehicles held by officers who had more than one vehicle were withdrawn through an order issued by the Director, State Motor Garages on September 24.
The Speaker said the withdrawal of additional vehicles was “one step”, but stressed that the broader policy needed to be notified without further delay.
Addressing the concerned Minister, he said the government should ensure that the policy was notified within 15 days.
“Make it a point that this policy is notified within 15 days. It must be done within 15 days,” the Speaker said. He added that the government should not send the matter back and forth between departments as this could further delay its implementation. The Speaker said the House was concerned about the issue and that the direction reflected the collective concern of its members.
During the discussion, an MLA questioned whether officers were entitled to vehicles such as Toyota Fortuners and alleged that an officer of a financial institution was using four vehicles, while legislators were provided vehicles that the MLA described as unsafe. Responding, the Speaker said the entitlement of different categories of officers and the type of vehicles they could use had been clearly defined in the proposed new policy.
Another MLA argued that the issue required greater oversight, suggesting that an auditor or representative from the Comptroller and Auditor General’s office should be included in the committee examining such matters. The Speaker said the policy could be discussed by the House after it was notified and rejected the suggestion that further discussion at this stage should delay its implementation.
He said members could raise the matter during the Budget Session while discussing the relevant Demands for Grants and could propose amendments or cuts if they deemed them necessary. The Speaker then closed the discussion and directed the government to proceed with notification of the policy within 15 days.
