Punjab govt allows red beacon; revokes order post social media ire

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday denied any change in his government's policy on the use of red-beacons on vehicles of the CM and ministers.

The clarification came after the Transport Department "erroneously" put out an extract from the Congress's poll manifesto, exempting the CM and council of ministers from using beacons, as a notification.

"The Transport Department had erroneously put out a part of the poll manifesto as notification and the social media picked it up," an official spokesperson said quoting Amarinder.

The purported notification was later withdrawn, even as the Chief Minister directed the Chief Secretary to have the correct order sent to him for immediate approval and issuance, he said.

There has been no order yet on the issue of red-beacons, said the spokesperson, adding a notification is expected to be issued after the Chief Minister's directives.

The manifesto of the Punjab Congress had exempted the Chief Minister and ministers from the proposed ban on red-beacons on their vehicles, he said.

But Amarinder and his ministers had voluntarily decided to give up the use of beacons in the first meeting of the cabinet, which ratified the poll promise into a policy decision, the spokesperson said.

He pointed out that the Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues had themselves got the red-beacons removed from their vehicles within hours of the cabinet decision.