Finally, poll panel decides to pay more for acquired vehicles

Authorities using the vehicles for election work will now pay Rs 70 as against Rs 45 paid for an hour for using a 15-seater vehicle

The vehicles acquired by the district administration for election duty would be paid more this year as the election commission had agreed to the much awaited demand.

The vehicle owners had been demanding increase in the tariff fixed for the vehicles used in the election duty. The poll panel had however not paid any heed to the demand in the last assembly polls in 2008.

When the authorities started the exercise to acquire the vehicles, owners reiterated their demand and lodged strong protest to provide the vehicles at the tariff plan. They even threatened to put the vehicle off road. The Election Commission finally accepted the demands and decided to increase the tariff.

“There has been an increase of 50 to 60% in the tariff,” vehicle owners’ association general secretary Haji Sharif Raja said. The authorities using the vehicles for election work would now pay Rs 70 as against Rs 45 paid for an hour for using a 15-seater vehicle. Similarly, vehicles with 51 and above seats would be paid Rs 125 per hour as against Rs 85 paid earlier.

In the first phase of the election, 18 constituencies across the divisions of Durg and Bastar would go to the polls on November 11. In all, the authorities would be requiring about 2000 vehicles mostly used for ferrying the security personnel and the polling party.

The transport department acquires the vehicles and hand it over to the respective district administration that takes care of its distribution. The acquired vehicles would be under the possession of the government for nearly a month.