‘Innova please, not Duster'

Morung Express News Dimapur | March 10   In a development that would cast doubt over the "austerity measure" policy as proclaimed by the freshly inducted PDA government as well as by the erstwhile DAN regime, it appears that legislators are unhappy over a purported government plan concerning allotment of vehicles.   A group of legislators has shot off a letter to the state government requesting the latter to reconsider a purported plan to allot Renault Dusters to MLAs.   The letter, dated March 10, bore the signatures of 10 Naga People's Front MLAs and was addressed to the Commissioner & Secretary, Nagaland Legislative Assembly.   As per the letter, the legislators want Toyota Innova Crysta instead of Renault Duster.   Citing the Assembly Secretariat as "planning to allot" Duster vehicles to MLAs, the terse letter stated, "We the undersigned NPF legislators have decided to not to accept the said allotment because of maintenance issue. Instead, arrangement may kindly be made for allotment of Toyota - Innova Crysta (Top Model) to all of us."   The signatories were all part of the previous DAN government.   The NPF spokesperson Achumbemo Kikon said that he has not come across such a letter when contacted. He though said that the legislators were justified in their demand. Citing his own personal experience, he said that while Innova is costlier than Duster, the former brand fares better in terms of maintenance expenses in the long term. Further, he said that as elected members of the legislature, opposition members are just as privileged as those in the Treasury bench.   One of the signatories, MLA Kuzholuzo Neinu confirmed to The Morung Express that they have written the letter addressed to the Commissioner & Secretary, Nagaland Legislative Assembly while keeping in mind that every MLA is entitled to a good vehicle and of one own’s choice. He maintained that during the last term, all the 60 MLAs were provided Innova Crysta as their official vehicle and with this demand, they were not asking for a better vehicle or anything different.   Also hinting that there might be partisan politics at play in the allocation of vehicles, Neinu said the same yardstick should be applied to all the 60 MLAs when it comes to allocation of vehicles. “Be it the Ministers, the Chief Minister or the MLAs, all are equal among equals, no one is bigger than the other. So the same yardstick should be applied.”   While the bone of contention among the legislators is between different car models on the luxury line, commentators commenting on the letter shared extensively on different social media platforms felt that the State Government should instead put an end to buying high end cars for legislators.   “I hope the government put an end to buying high end cars. How vain we are. When devoted officers in outposts are struggling even to get an old haggard gypsy, here we are in the capital asking for luxury car,” read a comment posted in a WhatsApp group.