Punjab plans to buy 79 luxury cars worth Rs600 million for VVIPs

The Punjab government has made a plan to acquire 79 new luxury vehicles for provincial ministers and parliamentary secretaries with a budget of Rs600 million, sources said on Monday.

According to sources, the move aims to strengthen the transport pool of the Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD) with luxury vehicles.

The provincial home ministry has requested the Punjab government to provide vehicles for 15 VVIPs, including bullet-proof vehicles for 12 prime ministers, who will attend the 2-day Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Islamabad, slated to kick off on October 15.

The Additional Chief Secretary Punjab briefed the Cabinet Standing Committee on Finance and Development on the need for vehicles, citing the recent appointment of 29 Parliamentary Secretaries under Section 3 of the Parliamentary Secretaries (Salary, Allowances and Perks) Ordinance, 2002.

As per the law, each Parliamentary Secretary is entitled to an official vehicle for both official and private purposes.

The government has already provided vehicles to 20 parliamentary secretaries from the S&GAD transport pool but needs to purchase nine more for the remaining secretaries.

Additionally, 20 more vehicles will be reserved for future expansions in the provincial cabinet and parliamentary secretaries.

Considering the current law and order situation, the government has requested 30 new Toyota Hilux single cabins with special fiber hoods for the security of provincial ministers.

The home ministry has also procured 15 bulletproof and non-bulletproof VVIP vehicles, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Toyota Land Cruiser, and Fortuner, for the SCO meeting.

The purchase is part of the government's ongoing efforts to provide luxury vehicles for VVIPs, judges, and senior officials, a practice continued by each new government in the province.