As the Lok Sabha on Wednesday discussed the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2012, which is aimed at ensuring road safety, most members appeared hardly interested in ordinary citizens’ plight on the roads and instead laid forceful claims to sport red beacons atop their own vehicles.
They also asserted that they would approach Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek his intervention in the matter.
Initiating the debate on the bill, which was moved by transport minister C.P. Joshi, Arjun Ram Meghwal of the BJP said even an additional district magistrate gets a red beacon atop his car while an MP representing lakhs of people is deprived of it. He said a red beacon would help an MP reach Parliament quickly as it would reduce time spent at tollbooths on highways.
Meghwal said the privileges committee of the Lok Sabha had made a recommendation to this effect and wanted to know why the government was delaying the measure.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (Congress), Vijay Bahadur Singh (BSP), Vishwa Mohan Kumar (JD-U) and Ratna De (Trinamul Congress) supported Mr Meghwal.
The BSP member said a red beacon would help MPs in faster movement across their constituencies. He also said over 200 MPs supported the move and would submit a memorandum on the matter to the Prime Minister.
"Since the Motor Vehicles Act is a Central law, a notification by the Central government will have all-India applicability and make the facility of red light beacons atop the vehicles of members available uniformly across the country," the privileges committee report had said.