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Kerala Kaumudi Online
Friday, 29 March 2024 5.03 PM IST

Let the museum incident bring good changes

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It took seven days for the police to nab the person who tried to sexually assault a lady doctor who went for a morning walk on the museum premises. Even though there were many leads, the police somehow found it difficult to reach the accused. The image of Kerala police being the best in the country sometimes gets tarnished in certain situations.

The accused nabbed by the police is the driver of a government car used by a private secretary of a Minister. This same person is also accused of breaking and entering a house at Kuravankonam.

As the accused is caught by the police, the law will take its course. However, the significant issue in this is that the museum incident sheds light on how government vehicles are misused in this manner. The accused used the government vehicle as if it is his own and did all this mischief. Even if the ‘Kerala State' board is covered, the government vehicle would not cease to be a government vehicle.

If the government vehicle, used by a private secretary, is used by a driver as he pleased, then there might be someone in the higher-ups who have given silent permission for that.

According to the guidelines, once the officer has used the government vehicle for his purposes, it must be taken to the Secretariat and the details of that day’s travels must be entered in the books. However, many do not follow these rules. Official vehicles must be used only for official purposes, according to the rules. If we want to see the enormity of the violation of that rule, we need just to wait on the roadside for a while. The state cars speeding to and fro might not have the officials traveling in it. These vehicles are misused for travel by the family members of the officials and even their pets.

The travel details of government vehicles are registered in a log book. The guidelines stipulate that the details of every travel must be entered in the log book, including the time. This system is very unscientific because the details entered in the log book are not sufficient to ascertain where the government vehicle was taken. From the details of the distance traveled that is entered in the log, it can be anywhere. The actual destination can be hidden.

It has been ten years since a government circular was passed stipulating that the log book system must be replaced and modern GPS be attached to every government vehicle. However, still, the old logbook system is followed. The benefits of using the log book are aplenty. The destination and routes of travel cannot be hidden if GPS is used. Accurate details will be registered by the GPS. No wonder this system causes uneasiness among government officials and leaders.

The sexual assault against the lady doctor at the museum once again points fingers at the misuse of government vehicles and the need to have GPS placed on these vehicles. Many good things take place in response to crimes such as this.

The attack on a father and daughter at the Kattakada KSRTC depot, when they came to take concession, led to the decision to make concession distribution online. The museum incident must encourage the government to control the misuse of government vehicles.

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TAGS: MUSEUM, LADY DOCTOR, POLICE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, GOVERNMENT VEHICLE, MISUSE, PRIVATE SECRETARY, MINISTER, LOG BOOK, DESTINATION, KURAVANKONAM, GUIDELINES, OFFICIALS, PETS, FAMILY MEMBERS, GPS, CIRCULAR, KATTAKADA, KSRTC, DEPOT, ONLINE, CONCESSION
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