Ambassadors out, Scorpios in for Nitish govt

After renovating ministers’ offices, homes, government will now give them luxury cars, SUVs

The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar is switching gears. After spending crores on renovating homes and offices, ministers will now renew their fleet of vehicles — Ambassadors out; in their place, Indigo and Scorpio cars.

The government has approved a proposal to purchase around 60 of both vehicles. Each minister will be provided with the luxury Tata Indigo for travel in Patna while the Scorpio is meant for more arduous journeys in the state’s villages.

Special provisions will be made for CM Nitish Kumar, considering his security concerns. Nearly half a dozen specially built bullet-proof Scorpios have been allotted for him. The Chief Minister at present uses bullet-proof Ambassadors. The new vehicles will cost the state exchequer nearly Rs 9 crore.

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‘‘The new cars will not be luxury for us. It is a necessity and a wise decision. Majority of the Ambassadors are very old and they guzzle a lot of oil. We had to buy new cars. So why not buy better and fuel efficient cars?’’ argued Road Construction Minister Nand Kishore Yadav.

The proposal, however, has given the Opposition a stick to beat the government with. ‘‘Poor and backward people are being killed everyday in the state. The government seems to be hardly bothered about protecting and improving their lives. It is busy ensuring comfort and luxury for the Chief Minister and ministers,’’ said RJD chief Abdul Bari Siddiqui.

CPI(M-L) leader KD Yadav termed the move as a ‘‘cruel joke’’ on the people of the state. ‘‘The state is burdened with a debt of over Rs 42,000 crore and its ministers want luxury cars. Isn’t it cruelty?’’ Yadav said.

The Nitish Kumar government has undertaken facelift measures since assuming power. Immediately after taking over, the CM had renovated his office, complete with the latest communication gadgets. That was followed by spruce-ups at his ministers’ residences.

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Replying to questions on the achievements of their government in six months, Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi acknowledged that the government was yet to achieve tangible results. ‘‘We have used these six months to do groundwork for different projects. Implementation will start now and then it will be visible on the ground.’’ He defended the move to change the government fleet, saying it was necessary for their ‘‘smooth functioning’’.

‘‘It’s not that we are using development money to buy these cars. It is being done within the provisions.’’