New Delhi: Parliamentarians from across the political spectrum on Wednesday made a strong demand for being given the right to sport red beacons atop their vehicle and said they would approach Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in this regard.
They made the demand in the Lok Sabha while participating in a discussion on the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill moved by Transport Minister CP Joshi.
Initiating the discussion on the Bill, Arjun Ram Meghwal (BJP) said even an Additional District Magistrate gets a red beacon atop his car while an MP representing lakhs of people is deprived of it.
He said a red beacon would help an MP reach Parliament quickly as it would reduce time spent at toll booths on highways.
Meghwal said the Privileges Committee of the Lok Sabha had made recommendation to the effect and sought to know why the government was delaying the measure.
"If the government has some issues in making the facility available in Delhi which is a VVIP area, leave Delhi and extend the facility in other parts of the country," he said.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (Cong), Vijay Bahadur Singh (BSP), Vishwa Mohan Kumar (JD-U) and Ratna De (Trinamool) also supported Meghwal.
Singh said a red beacon would help MPs in faster movement across their constituencies.
The BSP member also said that over 200 MPs have supported the move and would submit a memorandum on the matter to the Prime Minister.
"Since the Motor Vehicles Act is a central Act, a notification from central government would have all-India applicability and make the facility of use of red light beacon atop the vehicles of members available uniformly across the country," the Privileges Committee report had said.
PTI
