Lagatar24 Desk
Ranchi, Jan 31: The officers in the district administration who are responsible to make sure that rules and regulations are followed, have not been following rules themselves. Privately registered vehicles here are being used at commercial rates. Ranchi SDO and District Land Acquisition Officer have been seen using these vehicles. Payment of privately registered vehicles at commercial rates is a direct matter of loss of revenue.
According to sources, under the district administration, the vehicle number – JH01 CL 8015, Tata Zest is being used by Land Acquisition Officer Anjana Das. This vehicle is in use since the month of October of 2020 whereas JH01EC 2981 Mahindra Scorpio is being used by SDO Deepak Dubey.
The rent for both these vehicles is being paid to the District Land Acquisition Office from the contingency fund provided by the NHAI. According to sources, around Rs 70,000 per month is being paid for the SDM’s scorpion, whereas, about Rs 1200 per day is being paid for the vehicle used by the Land Acquisition Officer. He is also paid separately for petrol.
According to rules, it is mandatory for any vehicle to be registered as a commercial registration (taxi) for commercial use. And the number-plate of commercial vehicles should also be yellow. Fines are imposed by the DTO if private vehicles are caught in commercial use. But under the district administration, these two vehicles are being used without keeping in mind the said rules.
In response to whether private vehicles can be used for commercial hire or not, District Transport Officer Praveen Kumar Prakash on Monday said that private vehicles cannot be used commercially. If any officer does not have a vehicle and the administration books a vehicle for them, then its payment is made according to the guidelines of the Election Department.
According to further information, the payment of these vehicles is being done from the Contingency Fund of the Land Acquisition Department. When the District Land Acquisition Officer was talked to in this regard, he refused to say anything about it. He said that we do not know anything about it and whatever the issue, it can be clarified by the DC.
The Ranchi DC could not be available to answer questions regarding the issue. He could not be reached either via calls or messages.
