We will demolish VIP culture in Punjab: Amarinder

Chandigarh, March 21 (IANS) Punjab Chief MInister Amarinder Singh said on Tuesday that his government would demolish the VIP culture in the state and the ban on the use of red beacons on government vehicles was a part of this move.

"The VIP culture has eroded the democratic system of the country and alienated the common people from their own leaders, whom they elect with a lot of hope and expectations. I urge public figures to respect people's sentiment," Amarinder Singh said here.

Asserying his government's commitment to eliminate VIP culture in Punjab, he urged all political leaders and others to support the initiative to purge the debt-ridden state of irrelevant power symbols.

He said Punjab could ill-afford such luxuries and these had no place in a progressive society.

Pointing to the humungous debt inherited by his government, Amarinder Singh said every small step would counted in boosting the state's fiscal health and bringing it back on the road to prosperity.

Reacting to reports of certain individuals refusing to let go of the red beacon status symbol, he said: "My government was committed to demolish the VIP culture in the state, as mandated by the Congress manifesto.

"Such VIP frills were a legacy of the pre-independence era and had no place in a democratic and progressive society like ours."

He urged all his colleagues in the government and in the party as well as other elected representatives entitled to such privileges not to make it an issue of prestige.

The Punjab cabinet, in its first meeting last week, had banned the use of red beacons by Punjab's VIPs.

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