The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Duty extends beyond office hours for these drivers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 24, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Duty extends beyond office hours for these drivers

Staff Reporter

`Misuse of official vehicles costs the exchequer Rs. 2,000 crore every year'

BANGALORE: Did you know that if government officials stopped "misusing" the vehicles allotted to them, it would save the State exchequer Rs. 2,000 crore every year?

There is no provision for any government official (including those at the top) to get picked up and dropped at their homes. But on an average, the Government is spending Rs. 600 a day on each of the nearly 100,000 vehicles. This means that every year, more than Rs. 2 lakh is spent on each car just for picking and dropping officials.

The officials also use the vehicles for personal work. This includes visits to hometowns, clubs, airports, beauty parlours, and schools (to drop and pick up their children).

They also hire taxis for their personal work. On an average, more than Rs. 25,000 is spent on each of the hired vehicle every month. Also, official vehicles are used on Sundays and other holidays.

This may sound shocking, but it is true. For, the drivers who ferry these officials to their destinations themselves revealed this on Tuesday.

`Exploitation'

President of the State Government and Government Concerns Drivers Federation M.N. Venugopal told presspersons that the officials were "exploiting the drivers even after working hours."

"Apart from picking and dropping the officials and ferrying their family members to places of their choice, we also have to wait for the officials till late in the night outside their offices, clubs or family functions. Again we have to report early in the morning," he said.

Pointing out that the drivers were not paid anything extra for the "extra work," Mr. Venugopal alleged that the drivers were harassed by the officials if they objected to the exploitation.

Mr. Venugopal urged Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to initiate measures to stop such "misuse."

The federation members urged the Government to hike the special allowance for drivers from Rs. 90 to Rs. 300, and uniform allowance from Rs. 120 to Rs. 300.

"If the Government is not keen on fulfilling these demands, we want it to fix our working hours between 10 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. just like other employees. Otherwise, we will be forced to launch an agitation and approach the court," Mr. Venugopal said.

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Karnataka