A day after former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, apparently stung by the State Cabinet’s announcement of enforcing the UP Act-2997 regarding the facilities to the ex-CMs, had announced that he would relinquish all facilities provided by the State Government to him except the Government house he was currently residing in, Chief Minister Harish Rawat has gone for a public-spirited overdrive, announcing that 25 per cent of his monthly salary would go into the Chief Minister’s relief fund (CMRF).
The Chief Minister also announced that 10 per cent of the salaries the his Ministers and Dayitvadharis (political appointees) were presently drawing would go to CMRF. He has already instructed the Chief Secretary to act on the announcement. CS informed during the secretary committee meeting that the money to be deducted thus will be spent on the education for SC/ST students.
Notably, Bahuguna is presently enjoying a personal secretary, two chaffer driven vehicles and four personal security officers (PSO)- the facilities he has surrendered to the secretariat administration (SAD). He said he has taken the decision to spare the cash-strapped coffers of the State the burden on this count.
Unwilling to yield space to his bête noir, now seemingly breathing over his neck in the aftermath of the sensational liquor sting video, the presently embattled CM said he would forego a quarter of his monthly salary that would go straight to CMRF with immediate effect. However, it is uncertain whether CM cutting into the salaries of his colleagues in the ministry is going down well with the ‘victims’ or not.
To restrain the Ministers, officials and others from going on a spending spree by frequent air travels, CM instructed them to avail economy class instead of business class if such travels are absolutely necessary.
Notably, the decision to drastically curtail the facilities the ex-CMs enjoy was taken during the cabinet meeting held at Churiyala, a village of Bhagwanput Tehsil of Haridwar district, on Thursday.
The Cabinet categorically stated that the ex-CMs would get facility strictly as per the norms mentioned in the UP Act-2997 and the State Government would withdraw all other facilities, which were added to them thereafter. Immediately after the news was splashed on the media, Bahuguna wrote a letter, informing that he had already asked the officials to rid him of all the facilities except the house he is occupying that is located next to BIjapur guest house.
Observers felt that by such a step, he has not just put Rawat to test of public-spiritedness but pressured the other four ex CMs - ND Tiwari of Congress and Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Maj Gen (Retd) Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri and Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank of BJP- to follow suit.