The Standing Committee of Cabinet on Finance and Development on Friday approved a summary put up after the nod of the chief minister that the Punjab government would purchase 40 new vehicles for the chief minister house and provincial cabinet members at a cost of over Rs300 million. According to the summary, the government will purchase four Toyota Fortuner cars, three Toyota Revo double-cabin cars and 33 Toyota Corolla Altis (Grande) cars for the cabinet members. The funds amounting to Rs305.07 million for the purchase of new vehicles will be provided through supplementary grant along with permission for advance withdrawal during the current financial year 2022-23. Sources say the chief minister’s office had initially, on Aug 10, requested 26 vehicles for the transport pool of the office to avoid any inconvenience while performing official duties. In addition to these, the office on Sept 7 demanded additional 14 vehicles from the transport pool of the S&GAD. Accordingly, 14 vehicles were deployed as per the request of the CM Office. The transport pool of the S&GAD consequently faced shortage of 14 vehicles. Therefore, in addition to the purchase of 26 vehicles for the CM office, 14 Toyota Corolla Altis (Grande) cars were required for transport pool of the S&GAD for deployment with cabinet members and other official duties.
2022-09-12