A Maharashtra government reportedly left cash-strapped by the coronavirus lockdown, has cleared the purchase of six cars for ministers, deputies and senior officials of the sports and education departments, including a Rs 22.8 lakh seven-seater Toyota Innova Crysta for Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad
This comes two days after Vijay Wadettiwar, a cabinet minister in charge of relief and rehabilitation, said the state’s coffers were in such poor condition that the government would have to take out a loan to pay the salaries of its employees.
Special provision made to bypass ceiling limit of Rs 20 lakh for vehicle purchase.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi government gave its nod for the purchase of Innova Crysta 2.4 ZX (7 seaters) worth Rs 22,83,086 from Madhuban Motors Pvt. Ltd., Lower Parel, Mumbai. It is pertinent to note that while the ceiling limit for the purchase of a car has been Rs 20 lakh, a special provision, with the approval of the state government’s finance department and chief minister Uddhav Thackeray was passed to pursue the purchase of the vehicles.
However, Chief Minister Thackeray’s government is set to sign 12 contracts with foreign firms worth a total of Rs 16,000 crore, in a bid to jump-start the state economy.
Maharashtra is also the state worst-affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, with 1.93 lakh confirmed cases, including 8,376 deaths. Across India, the number of confirmed cases is nearing 6.5 lakh, with 18,655 deaths linked to the novel coronavirus.
