District Collector Snehil Kumar Singh has said that the district administration is allowed to hire vehicles in case of emergencies, and that the vehicle in which Minister for Public Works P.A. Mohamed Riyas received the guard of honour during the Republic Day parade in Kozhikode on Friday was hired in such a circumstance.
“We received directions from the office of the District Police Chief [Kozhikode City] regarding this around five days before the Republic Day. There is nothing unusual about it and there is precedent,” he told reporters here on Monday.
Mr. Singh said the police vehicle usually used for the purpose was out of commission and hence another vehicle was hired. He added that he was not aware of any financial transactions in this regard.
That the Minister had used a vehicle owned by a PWD contractor had kicked up a row following the parade. The Motor Vehicles department (MVD) has launched an investigation into the issue on the grounds that the directions were to use only public transport vehicles in emergency situations and not private vehicles.
Mr. Singh also said that he was aware of the issue that led to the suicide of a differently abled person at Chakkittapara recently. “I had forwarded the matter to the State government. But yes, there was a delay in taking action,” he added.
