Ex-CMs under pressure to give up amenities

DEHRADUN: Two days after former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna relinquished facilities and privileges he was enjoying as ex-CM, pressure has begun to build from different quarters on other such officials to give up the amenities they were entitled to.
Among the facilities Bahuguna has surrendered are two officials vans carrying armed security guards escorting him.His decision came a day after the state cabinet gave a green signal to the proposal to take away all additional facilities and privileges that were given to former CMs since the time the state was carved out of UP.
Official sources said prior to the formation of the state, a former chief minister was officially entitled to just an official bungalow, apart from a couple of personal security guards to protect him. However, after the N D Tiwari-led Congress government was voted to power in 2002, successive state governments stepped up their security cover and enhanced other facilities and privileges like raising the use of fuel limits for their official security vans over the years.
These officials were later provided two vans carrying about a dozen of armed guards to escort them, among other facilities.
A government source said that the state cabinet finally gave a nod to the proposal to take away enhanced facilities and privileges provided to former CMs in view of the complaints of alleged inflated bills of about Rs 3 lakh and above for purchase of fuel for a specific period.
“After the state government got complaints of these inflated bills for fuel incurred by official vehicles of former CMs, its cabinet finally retracted these enhanced facilities to prevent their misuse as part of austerity measures to cut down expenses incurred on these facilities,” said a senior IAS officer.
An official said that among those under pressure to give up facilities they were entitled to are N D Tiwari, who served as Congress CM between 2002 to 2007, B C Khanduri and Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ who were CMs from 2007 to 2012.
While these former CMs were not available for comment, sources close to them denied that they were under pressure to relinquish their facilities. “When the cabinet has taken a final decision on this, other ex-CMs are unlikely to object to giving up these facilities,” said a source close to a former state chief minister.