Avinash Azad
The Jammu & Kashmir Government faced intense heat in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday over the lack of a uniform fleet management policy for senior bureaucrats. Pointing out that “J&K is a poor state and we cannot afford luxuries,” Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather rejected the Government’s incomplete submission during Question Hour, ordering Transport Minister Satish Sharma to table a fresh, detailed action-taken report before the House.
The controversy broke out over a starred question submitted by Udhampur East MLA Ranbir Singh Pathania regarding official vehicle allocations, operational expenditures, and fleet distribution across public departments.
The debate highlighted a major administrative lag. While the General Administration Department formed a panel back in April 2021 (under GO No. 321-JK(GAD) of 2021) to streamline car allocations, the resulting “Government Vehicle Management Policy, 2026” has yet to be formally notified.
Without this binding framework, senior bureaucrats continue to hold multiple official rides drawn from subordinate offices, PSUs, and public boards without a clear legal cap.
Pathania questioned why senior bureaucrats assigned to head additional departments receive separate vehicles for each position. Speaker Rather intervened, demanding to know why an officer handling two posts cannot simply use a single car for both duties.
When Transport Minister Satish Sharma defended the multi-car setup as an inherited “legacy issue,” the Speaker rejected the explanation, asking why an incorrect legacy practice could not be immediately fixed.
Beyond vehicle allocations, Pathania called for an investigation into potential double TA/DA claims and duplicate Petrol, Oil, and Lubricant (POL) reimbursements. Pathania urged the Government to move beyond internal fleet checks by the State Motor Garages Department and implement independent, third-party audits to uncover true operational costs. While the administration released a list of senior officers allocated multiple vehicles (Annexure-D), the absence of a notified rule leaves the practice unmonitored for now. The Transport Ministry is now required to return to the Assembly with a detailed response explaining the 5-year policy delay and presenting concrete measures to cut down on unnecessary public spending.
