Govt spent Rs 3.5 crore on VVIP cars

Opposition leader Eknath Khadse said,“It has become a ritual for the Democratic Front government. Successive sessions have shown the government giving more grants through supplementary demands.”The state government,however,justified its decision to purchase Mercedes cars for VVIPs. “Bullet-proof vehicles like Tata Safari,Ambassador and non-armoured vehicles are used by the Vice-President,Prime Minister and foreign dignitaries during their visits to Mumbai. Considering the status of these guests,it is necessary to provide highly secure vehicles to them. Therefore,government decided to purchase an armoured and a non-armoured Mercedes. However,as there is no sufficient provision for the same,the money was withdrawn from the Contingency Fund,” said an official.

Interestingly,the government has allocated Rs 25 lakh for “khabris” (informers). Sources in home department dismissed the amount as dismal.

Irrigation: PILs to be heard together

Bombay High Court on Monday directed that the two PILs seeking a probe into alleged irregularities in irrigation projects in Maharashtra should be heard together in Mumbai. While a petition on the issue has been filed before the bench at Mumbai by activist Pravin Wategaonkar,a similar petition filed by NGO Jan Manch is pending before the Nagpur bench of the High Court.