On an interesting note, a senior IPS officer based out of Haryana, Mr. Y Puran Kumar (2001 batch IPS officer), reached out to the state government with complaints of “discriminatory and selective” allotment of official vehicles to the IPS officers in the state, weeks after returning the official vehicle allotted to him by the state police department. According to the senior cop, that vehicle was not up to the standard of the rank he was entitled to.
In a letter to the Chief Secretary of Haryana, Mr. TVSN Prasad (1988 batch IAS officer), Officer Kumar urged the competent authority to consider enquiring into the allotment of “staff cars and operational vehicles” to the IPS officers. The contentious issue arose after Mr. Kumar was allotted a 2017 model car (Honda City) after he took over the responsibility of IGP Telecommunications and was in charge of the emergency response support system in November last year. He alleged that the car allotted to him was seven years old and was in a wizened condition, whereas, his predecessor (an ADGP rank officer) was granted a new Toyota Innova Crysta during his tenure.
Officer Kumar suggested examining whether new vehicles were being given away to a selected few officers and requested to review the allotment of more than one operational vehicle to “officers with additional charges.” He urged that the rules for allotment of vehicles as staff cars from the police headquarters as per the Haryana Police Act, 2007, be amended so that every IPS officer could be allotted new vehicles as per their turn and seniority.
A senior bureaucrat has clarified that this fiasco was an administrative issue, and the authorities concerned shall excavate the truth behind the allegations after conducting an inquiry.
