The West Bengal government has notified a scheme under which officials of the Indian Administrative Service can use different types of flags on their official vehicles to get around a ban on beacons, The Times of India reported on Wednesday. The Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms had issued a notification in this regard on Tuesday, June 20.
“In view of the significant rise in the level of interaction with various international and national level authorities, it is felt that a flag for use on vehicles being used by senior officials of the state government shall convey a greater sense of government’s intent and enable smoother interactions without compromising protocol,” the state’s personnel and administrative department said in the notification.
The flags have been designed by the chief minister of state Mamata Banerjee herself, reported Hindustan Times. Three types of flags – rectangular, swallow-tailed and triangular – have been notified and will be used by the officials according to their ranks on the bonnet of their vehicles, said The Times of India report. They will be blue in colour. The flags will only be used when the concerned officer is on official duty.
Senior state officials said Banerjee had been thinking of an alternative to the blue lights, used by the state to identify the vehicles used by the bureaucrats, ever since the use of beacons was banned by the Union government. “Finally, she came up with an idea and she herself conceptualised the design,” said an official of the personnel and administrative reforms department.
On April 19, the Centre had issued a directive against the use of “lal battis” on non-emergency vehicles starting May 1. Only fire brigade vehicles and ambulances are exempt from the rule.
The rule also applies to the president, vice president, prime minister, chief justice of India and Lok Sabha Speaker. In December 2013, a bench of justices GS Singhvi and C Nagappan asked states to amend the Motor Vehicle Rules and restrict the use of red beacons. The court had asked states to levy a hefty fine on those misusing it.
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