AP owes ₹2.2 cr to travel operators for hiring protocol vehicles for Tirupati

Andhra Pradesh owes ₹2.21 crore to travel operators for deputing vehicles for protocol purposes at Tirupati.

VIPs regularly undertake pilgrimage to the destination and it is the norm for the state to hire private vehicles for protocol reasons. 

The hire charges payable to a travel operator from July 2014 for using convoy vehicles under protocol to Tirumala/Tirupati have touched ₹1.97 crore. When fuel bills and vehicle repair charges are added, the amount comes to ₹2,21,49,488, according to a communication sent by the revenue divisional officer to the district collector, requesting sanction of the above amount. 

The district administration had even written to the chief commissioner of Land Administration Vijayawada, but reportedly to no avail.

“If this is the fate of one district, imagine the quantum of pending bills across the funds-starved state,” BJP spokesperson G Bhanuprakash Reddy ssaid. Addressing the media on Friday, he appealed to the government to settle the pending bills. “People are panicking at the thought of government officials landing at their doorstep to strip them of their valuables and vehicles,” he said.

Taking a jibe at the Ministry of Finance for having taken loans to the tune of ₹3.5 lakh crore from various funding agencies, he asked the ‘Ministry of Debt’ to release a white paper on the funds spent by it under various heads.