leading the way, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and his Council of Ministers bade adieu to the red beacons hours after the Cabinet took this decision, a day before, in its very first meeting.
The red beacons were removed from the vehicles of the Chief Minister and the Ministers on Saturday itself without even waiting for a formal notification in this regard — acting quickly on the cabinet decision on VIP culture.
The government’s move to shed the VIP frills is in line with the Punjab Congress assembly poll manifesto, which the cabinet decided to take up in right earnestness.
Though the chief minister and cabinet ministers were exempted in the Congress manifesto, they had decided to bring themselves within the ambit of the decision, said an official spokesperson.
Spokesperson said that the removal of red beacons marks the beginning of the state government’s effort, which is burdened by a huge debt inherited from the previous regime, to clean up the official system of the much-hyped VIP culture that has been a huge drain on the exchequer over the years, while causing extreme hardship to the common man.
“The process of finalization of the policy on use of red beacons on government vehicles, barring those on emergency hospital, ambulance, fire brigade vehicles, and the vehicles of the Chief Justice and the Judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, has already started. Once the necessary notification is issued, all government departments would have to strictly implement the same,” added the spokesperson.
Apart from it, the Cabinet had also decided to put a ban on the foreign travel of ministers for two years and organising of banquets on State expense as part of the government’s move to shed the VIP frills in line with the Punjab Congress’ assembly poll manifesto.