Maharashtra: Can't pay govt employees, but approves expensive cars for Ministers
Op IndiaEven as Maharashtra faces an acute crisis from the raging coronavirus outbreak, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state has given its authorisation for the purchase of 6 new vehicles for its ministers. The demand for government authorisation for the purchase of 5 new vehicles for office bearers and 1 for staff member came from the Maharashtra School Education and Sports Department. Asserting that the School Education and the Sports Department needed vehicles for carrying out the governmental work, the Maharashtra state government authorised the purchase of the 6 vehicles, including 1 for the staff member. However, despite the implausibility of a swift attenuation of the contagion and the liquidity crisis facing the state government, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and the Finance Department, being fully cognisant of the economic situation in the state, passed a special and unnecessary provision to sanction the purchase of 6 new vehicles for the Maharashtra School Education and Sports Department.