Luxury car splurge

The government functionaries have been using vehicles drawn from three different sources. One is obviously the government transport pool, the other two sources are the various corporations and projects under different ministries. Apparently the pool transports are in short supply. We wonder why. The second thing to note is that while the cars belonging to corporations and projects were detailed for ministers, state ministers and other top functionaries of the government, the fuel costs, salaries of drivers and maintenance costs would be borne by the lending corporations and projects. And, even though each transport is entitled to 300 litres of fuel per month, sometimes the projects end up paying bills for up to 100 litres. The extra cars are often put to private use which strictly is a breach of official conduct, according to rules.

Where has the government's expenditure control gone? Indeed, the issue is financial discipline at the heartland of government. Few people were aware of the extent to which government, corporation or project vehicles have been misused. But now we are faced with an expose that can hardly be overlooked.

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Rules do not per se guarantee sound and proper use of vehicles in the public sector. Regulations are as good as their application, but if there be any loopholes in them, they must be plugged in the light of the experience with unregulated use of government transports.