Haryana bans purchase of new vehicles except for public transport, emergency use

The Haryana government on Thursday decided to put a complete ban on the purchase of new vehicles, including cars and jeeps, except buses for public transport and vehicles used for emergency responses during the current financial year.

A decision in this regard was taken in the Haryana cabinet which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, an official statement said.

The cabinet has also decided that even in case of very urgent need of a new car or jeep, outsourcing/hiring of the vehicles should be done.

Haryana's revenue sources have dried up in view of the ongoing coronavirus-induced lockdown, which has adversely affected all economic activities, and the present measures are aimed to cut down on expenses.

Chief Minister Khattar had recently said that Haryana was losing a whopping Rs 4,600 crore revenue.

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While maintaining that state's revenue sources had dried up in the wake of present crisis situation, Khattar on Wednesday had said, "We will have to curtail our expenses and generate sources of income."

Clarifying his earlier statement that new recruitment in the state will remain "frozen" for one year, he said the directive will remain applicable for universities.

Meanwhile, in another decision, the cabinet accorded ex-post facto approval to the proposal to purchase Gold Field Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Chhainsa village in Faridabad.

The Haryana dispensation will later run it as Government Medical College in larger public interest to provide adequate, accessible, quality health care services to the common man, the statement said.

The institute, a private medical institution, was set up in 2009 and had stopped functioning in 2015 due to the withdrawal of recognition and financial crisis.