SHILLONG, Aug 8 - The Meghalaya Cabinet today gave its approval to costlier vehicles for ministers and officials and fixed the maximum price of a vehicle for the Governor and the Chief Minister at Rs 40 lakh each.
Informing about the decision, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said that Cabinet ministers would be entitled to vehicles that cost Rs 20 lakh.
The other slabs fixed include Rs 12 lakh for the purchase of vehicles for the Director General of Police and other officials of equivalent rank, Rs 10 lakh for Commissioners and Secretaries, Rs 9 lakh for officials in the rank of the IGP, Rs. 7.5 lakh for heads of departments, and Rs 7 lakh for district-level officials.
The Deputy Chief Minister justified the upgrade and said the decision was taken because it was a matter of necessity. �People will understand. This is not a matter of comfort or status, but a matter of necessity,� he added.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet has also approved of the free drug policy in government hospitals. Under the policy, all government hospitals in the State will provide 72 drugs free of cost.
Tynsong said that the policy is in line with the Centre�s scheme to provide free drugs in government hospitals. The policy will be funded by the Centre and the State in the ratio 90:10.
