Drought: Government not to buy new chopper, but will hire one for CM & Co
Bengaluru: The state government is learnt to have dropped the idea of buying a helicopter for the use of the chief minister and other ministers citing maintenance cost.
Sources in the chief minister's office told DC last year that the government was mulling buying a chopper after a hired chopper caught fire before take-off in which Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was travelling. At that time, officials made enquiries with reputed chopper manufacturers to see whether it was feasible to have a chopper for the state instead of depending on private service providers.
In 2009, the then Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa wanted to buy a chopper for his whirlwind visits to districts. A special committee headed by the then secretary, Department of Youth Services and Sports, Mr I.M. Vittalmurthy was constituted to look for a suitable helicopter for the use of Mr Yeddyurappa. However, the committee reportedly suggested to the government not to buy a new helicopter due to high costs such as maintenance, salary for pilots and maintenance staff besides parking fee.
The government flying school at Jakkur Airfield had been the parking space not only for the government helicopter but also for private players.
The cost of a new chopper is Rs 25 crore to Rs 30 crore which is too high for the government at a time when more than 130 taluks are reeling under severe drought. Besides, the government did not want to invite brickbats from opposition parties for purchasing the helicopter when the drought had gripped the state. “Taking all these factors into consideration, the government may not go for buying a new chopper for the time-being,” sources said.
The sources said it was better to hire a private chopper for the use of the CM and his cabinet colleagues since no maintenance cost was involved. There would be no commitment on the part of the government except paying Rs 1 lakh per day as rental charges. Apart from this, they need not bother about the salary of pilots or maintenance cost. A helicopter needs regular maintenance whether or not used regularly by VVIPs. The CM and other ministers rarely use the chopper thanks to good air services to important cities like Mysuru, Belagavi, Bidar, Mangaluru, Hubballi-Dharwad. They go for a private chopper if they have a slew of programmes in more than one district. The government chopper can be used only for official functions but not during the elections as it amounts to a violation of the poll code. In this situation, the private chopper comes in handy for VVIPs, the sources added.
In fact, Karnataka had purchased a chopper 10-15 years ago but it was not used fully, Subsequently, it was sold to Pawan Hans Helicopter Limited for offshore operations by Oil and Natural Gas Commission and inter-island transportation in Lakshwadeep islands.
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