Nagpur: In order to redress the grievances of Vidarbha and to solve the various problems, an agreement was made to hold at least one Session of Assembly in Nagpur. This tradition has been going on for the last many years now. The Winter Session of Legislative Assembly held at Nagpur is a big event. The government machinery plans and executes this event in a grand manner.
The amount spent on government vehicles to ply Senior Government officials, MLAs and Ministers is also a significant part of the crores of rupees spent on Winter Session of Legislative Assembly every year.
This year, around 1200 government vehicles were used to transport Senior Government officials, MLAs and Ministers of State Government. On enquiry, it has come to fore that around Rs 55 lakhs were spent on Petrol and Diesel to fuel these 1200 vehicles for the 10 days of Winter Session of Legislative Assembly.
Ten days and Rs 55 lakhs!
Sources said that according to the Nagpur Pact made with the first Chief Minister of Maharashtra Yashwantrao Chavan, the Winter Session of Legislative Assembly should be held at least for a period of four weeks however, this agreement is never adhered. For the last few times, having a Winter Session of Legislative Assembly for barely two weeks has become a practice. This time, the Winter Session started on December 5, 2016 and ended on December 17, 2016. Winter Session was further abbreviated by three days and the Session was held for a bare 10 days.
During the Winter Session of Legislative Assembly the 1200 vehicles included cars, jeeps, tankers, mini-buses, matadors and ambulances were used. In order to ensure that these vehicles are not misused for private or personal use, every vehicle was refueled with 15 liter petrol a day. The administration also monitored that the vehicles were not misused. This is one reason why the vehicles were not used for tourism or private visits especially during weekends. However, sources added that of the 1200 vehicles 150 vehicles have not been deposited so far so the expenses for fuel could enhance further.
