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| Row over Raje's new helicopter |
| Vasundhara Raje's government has invited bids for a 15-seater Augusta helicopter that can fly at night and in dusty winds with a maximum speed of over
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| INDIA
, 13-November-2007
1:25:55 AM |
| She may have often faced flak for her expensive tastes but Vasundhara Raje is all set to gift herself a new aircraft.
Her government wants to buy a new helicopter that's a part of the aerial fleet of President George Bush and costs a whopping Rs 40 crore.
But the Congress calls it a waste of public money at a time when Rajasthan's debt burden is mounting at the rate of over Rs 10,000 crores annually.
Vasundhara Raje's government has invited bids for a 15-seater Augusta helicopter that can fly at night and in dusty winds with a maximum speed of over a thousand kilometers an hour.
While it will cost a huge Rs 40 crore the government claims the chopper is needed to serve people better.
''Some other state governments have bought helicopters that are even more costly. We need this chopper to tackle the natural disasters that hit Rajasthan quite frequently. We are holding open tenders for this purchase and its no waste of funds,'' said Rajendra Singh Rathore, PWD Minister, Rajasthan.
But the chopper is only the latest in a series of luxuries bought by the Raje government 2 years ago.
A new helicopter was bought for the chief minister for Rs 20 crores.
Last year a new aircraft costing Rs 25 crores was also ordered and over Rs 2 crores were spent in buying luxury cars for Ministers in Rajasthan.
The opposition Congress calls this a waste of public funds.
''This is the height of wasting public money. Buying Rs 40 crore helicopter is another burden on the people of Rajasthan. It's terrible that they are doing all this only to indulge their feudal tastes,'' said Raghu Sharma, Congress Vice President, Rajasthan.
The purchase of a luxurious chopper is bound to escalate the debt burden on Rajasthan, which is now nearly Rs 80,000 crores.
And this controversial decision has now set tongues wagging over the Raje government's priorities.
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