Mostly Ministers, MLAs are the buyers of auctioned four-wheelers
SHILLONG: The Secre-tariat Administration Department (SAD) has spent a whopping amount of over Rs 2.35 crore for the purchase of vehicles for ministers, bureaucrats and officers falling under the GAD and SAD, according to RTI findings. For this all departments have sought sanctions from January 1993 till December 2002.
Moreover, an amount of over Rs 6.6 crore was spent again on the purchase of vehicles for ministers, bureaucrats and officers falling under the GAD and SAD from January 2003 till December 2013
Again a whopping amount of over Rs 80 lakh was spent on the purchase of vehicles from January 2014 till date.
These staggering amounts used for purchase of vehicles were revealed in an RTI findings accessed by Agnes Kharshiing, president of CSWO.
According to the RTI findings, 62 cars were purchased from the year 1993 till December 2002 and this number further increased to 92 in the subsequent years, from January 2003- December 2013
From January 2014 till date only seven new cars have been purchased.
More condemned vehicles
Surprisingly, out of the purchased cars, most have been declared as condemned, as the RTI findings reveal. Five cars were condemned between the years 1993 and 2002 and 75 cars were condemned between January 2003 and 2013. From the purchases since January 2014, no car has been condemned.
The RTI findings revealed that a Baleno vehicle which was purchased at Rs 8,00,556 in the year 2002 was allotted to former Chief Minister DD Lapang and it was condemned in 2011 and subsequently it was auctioned for a price of Rs 1,11,999. It was sold to a person known as B. Sangma.
One Scorpio worth Rs 7,91,214 was allotted to Former Chief Minister Dr Donkupar Roy. The vehicle was purchased in 2004 and it was condemned in 2013. The vehicle was auctioned at an amount of Rs 117,000 to MLA Marthon J Sangma.
According to RTI, one Sonata worth Rs 17,73,314 was allotted to DD Lapang in the year 2006 and the vehicle has not been condemned so far.
The RTI also said that an Ambassador car allocated to former Home Minister JM Pariat way back in 1994 was also condemned in the year 2003. Later it was auctioned at Rs 8,075 to former MLA Shitlang Pale.
Vehicles allotted to present Education Minister RC Laloo, former Chief Minister FA Khonglam and others were also condemned and auctioned mostly to MLAs and Government officers.