Known for his frequent faux pas, state transport minister goofs up on the issue of Benz buses plying in the state -- not once or twice, but for the third time
Known for his frequent faux pas, state transport minister goofs up on the issue of Benz buses plying in the stateu00a0-- not once or twice, but for the third time
R Ashok, the state transport minister known for his frequent faux pas, showed his ignorance about his department's affairs yet again when he goofed up on the same issue for the third time. He said the Benz bus service was on in the state, long after the lone trial bus was returned to the company.
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Carelessness?
"This shows how careless the minister is," said a highly placed source in KSRTC. "This is not the first time his ignorance has been exposed, but this one is so silly that we hang our heads in shame whenever he says it in public."
Ashok is known for committing fuax pas habitually. When he was the health minister in the Kumarswamy cabinet, he used to say the government would bring in a legislative bill whenever scribes enquired about a particular issue. Officers around him would remind him of the act that was already in force and the minister, concealing embarrassment, used to berate them openly.
Has Ashok really forgotten the issue? When contacted, he was evasive. "I did not say that the Benz bus service was regular. It was on trial basis and the idea of purchase is still being considered."
But, the officials said the government had dropped the idea more than two months ago because Benz was more expensive compared to Volvo. While a Volvo costs Rs 60 lakh, the price of a Benz bus is Rs 80 lakh. "Nothing was finalised when the Benz bus was run on trial basis in June last year, but later we decided not to purchase it because it was more expensive," said Gourav Gupta, managing director, KSRTC.
However, the officials smell a rat in the Benz issue because the minister's obsession to purchase it is publicly known. "Maybe it is a deliberate attempt to keep the issue alive till the chief minister approves his proposal," an official said.
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