Srinagar, Sep 24: Government officers retaining multiple official vehicles came under sharp scrutiny in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Thursday, with Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather questioning whether the practice amounts to duplication of public resources. He asked the government to furnish details of officers allotted more than one vehicle.
The issue came up during a discussion on official vehicle allotments after Transport Minister Satish Sharma described the existing practice as a “legacy issue”. Rather questioned the rationale behind continuing a practice simply because it had existed for years and sought concrete details from the government.
“Many officers have more than one vehicle because they have more than one department,” Rather said, questioning why an officer holding additional charge of another department should require a separate vehicle belonging to that department.
The Speaker also pulled up the Transport Minister for not taking appropriate action on the matter during the past month and directed him to furnish comprehensive details before the House.
Sharma assured the Speaker that the matter would be examined and corrective measures taken.
The government’s written reply to Starred Question No. 1/6/18, raised by MLA Ranbir Singh Pathania, provides a broader picture of the issue. The Transport Department said there is currently no specific government policy prescribing a uniform ceiling on allotment or retention of official vehicles by individual officers across all departments, PSUs, boards and autonomous bodies.
However, a revised Car/Vehicle Policy is under consideration, proposing the principle of “One Officer-One Vehicle”.
The proposed policy, according to the government, would also provide for specific exceptions based on security requirements, field duties, additional assignments or charges, operational exigencies and functional requirements of particular departments or organisations.
The government said the proposed principle is aimed at rationalising the government vehicle fleet, optimising available resources and achieving economy in government expenditure.
The financial implications of the existing system also came under focus. According to figures supplied by the Transport Department, expenditure on petrol, oil and lubricants (POL) rose from Rs 17.45 lakh in 2023-24 to Rs 19.34 lakh in 2024-25 and Rs 235.27 lakh in 2025-26.
Repair and maintenance expenditure was substantially higher, increasing from Rs 297.59 lakh in 2023-24 to Rs 436.76 lakh in 2024-25 and Rs 472.76 lakh in 2025-26.
Together, POL and repair/maintenance expenditure amounted to around Rs 1,226 lakh, or Rs 12.26 crore, over the three-year period.
The department also reported TA/DA expenditure of Rs 11.62 lakh in 2023-24, Rs 12.54 lakh in 2024-25 and Rs 12.38 lakh in 2025-26.
The government has said the information regarding officers currently allotted more than one official vehicle, including pool or attached vehicles and vehicles drawn from subordinate offices, PSUs and corporations, is available in Annexure-D of the reply.
The reply also states that the State Motor Garages Department conducts necessary audit and physical verification of the vehicle fleet from time to time.
The government further disclosed that the General Administration Department had constituted a committee through Government Order No. 321-JK(GAD) of 2021, dated April 9, 2021, to examine and recommend a revised Car/Vehicle Policy.
The committee has since framed the draft Government Vehicle Management Policy, 2026, which is currently under consideration by the government.
The debate therefore goes beyond the question of how many vehicles an individual officer uses. At its core is the question of whether vehicle entitlement should be linked to an officer or to a particular departmental function.
If an officer heads one department and simultaneously holds additional charge of another, maintaining separate vehicles for each assignment could potentially result in duplication of government assets as well as recurring expenditure on fuel, maintenance and drivers.
Rather stressed that the issue was ultimately about the use of public resources, particularly when departments are operating within financial constraints and competing demands for government expenditure remain high.
The Speaker also questioned arrangements where several vehicles are deployed for officers and their staff, suggesting that a single vehicle could, in appropriate circumstances, meet the requirement.
With the government already considering a revised vehicle-management policy, Thursday’s Assembly intervention is likely to bring greater scrutiny to the existing fleet-allocation system. The proposed “One Officer-One Vehicle” principle could mark a shift towards centralised and more rational fleet management, subject to the exemptions and safeguards eventually approved by the government.
The House will now await the detailed vehicle-allocation information sought by the Speaker, which could reveal the extent of multiple-vehicle allotments across departments, PSUs, boards and other government institutions.
