Govt moves to give senior civil servants vehicle loan

Dhaka, Jan 2 (BDPREM) – The government has moved to provide interest-free loans for senior civil servants to buy vehicles, a top official said Wednesday. The establishment ministry has drafted a proposal that provides for a maximum Tk 15 lakh in interest-free loans and a monthly allowance of Tk 35,000 for maintenance, fuel and driver. "The finance ministry has commented on the draft proposal. We will soon present the draft at the meeting of secretary committee on administrative development for approval," establishment secretary Md Abdus Salam told bdnews24.com Wednesday by telephone. The privileged officials include joint secretaries, additional secretaries and secretaries. There are 64 posts of secretary and equivalent designation, 72 posts of additional secretary and 370 posts of joint secretary. The draft says allocated vehicles were too few for too many privileged officials. The rundown vehicles often remain out of order, hampering the schedule of officials. Besides, the government has to spend huge money on repair. The draft proposes that the officials must buy vehicles within three months of getting loans and no-one can take loans more than once. The loan is to be repaid in 120 equal instalments and if the loan is not fully repaid, money will be deducted from gratuity, pension and provident fund. The officials will own the vehicle after full payment of loans. The Sixth Pay Commission in 2004 recommended that the officials be provided with financial facility instead of transport allowances and vehicles. The privileged officials are given 200 litres of fuel a month and a driver for an allocated vehicle. The government also bears the maintenance cost simultaneously, the commission said in its report. The government spends Tk 37,413 a month on a car, Tk 58,722 on a Jeep and Tk 58,722 on a microbus, the commission said quoting estimates of the Directorate of Government Transportation. The govt spends a staggering amount of revenue on the vehicles while the officers abuse their power by using the vehicles, creating scope for corruption, the commission said.