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Kolkata News: 698 of Police Department, 481 in transport sector and 710 vehicles of various public sector undertakings will be closed.
Kolkata News: The West Bengal government is now considering running electric vehicles instead of government vehicles more than 15 years old. The government will especially close the government vehicles of the police and the transport department. A senior official said that with the aim of modernizing the fleet of its vehicles, the West Bengal government has launched a comprehensive cleaning campaign to remove about 22,000 vehicles more than 15 years old. He said that this process is already going on and its purpose is to close the old vehicles being used by various government departments, especially police and transport. He said that the state government is insisting on replacing these old vehicles with electric vehicles.
22,000 vehicles will be changed in junk
The officer told PTI-language that at least 698 vehicles of the police department, 481 vehicles from the transport sector and 710 vehicles of various public sector undertakings have been marked. He said that apart from this, departments like Public Works, Panchayat and Public Health Engineering (PHE) have collectively listed more than 19,000 vehicles for scraping, causing the total number to reach close to 22,000. The official said that the Transport Department has started identifying these old vehicles and has started the process of removing them from service. He said that each department has been informed about the registration details of vehicles and directed to withdraw them from operation. He said that the list includes all types of vehicles, many of which have been in use for more than a decade and a half. He said that since these vehicles are being removed in a phased manner, many departments have already started purchasing replacement.
Government emphasis on electric vehicles
The official said that the state government is emphasizing on the purchase of electric vehicles to replace old vehicles. The official said that in changes towards permanent and environmentally friendly practices, the purchase of electric vehicles is being given priority compared to traditional fuel -based vehicles. In addition, many departments are going away completely from vehicle ownership and are preferring to hire vehicles for official use instead. This decision is aroused not only for budgetary reasons, but also from the need for greater flexibility and efficiency. Now a large number of vehicles are being hired, which shows a big change in the management of government transport services. He further said that the purpose of this initiative is to reduce the misuse of government vehicles.
Irregularity will be curbed
It is widely accepted in administrative circles that many government vehicles are often used for private tasks rather than official functions. The official said that apart from this, such examples have also been revealed where vehicles have been provided to such persons who did not have the right to the vehicle. Removing a large number of vehicles from service is expected to curb these irregularities. Talking about the future of selected vehicles, the official said that they have been taken to various government -owned open places and depots, where they will be stored until they are scrapped in a phased manner. The official said that the entire scraping process is being done strictly following the instructions of the Supreme Court.
