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India giving SUVs to NPC members
India has offered eight SUVs (Sport Utility Vehicles) to Northern Provincial Council members after the failure of a move to obtain duty-free vehicles for all the members, PC sources said.
The Sunday Times learns that initially the Indian government planned to give Indian manufactured cars by importing them with duty free concessions to all 38 members of the NPC. A spokesman from the Indian High Commission confirmed that they had called for tenders to provide eight SUVs to the NPC members, but he declined to comment on the request made for duty concessions.
The Sunday Times learns that seven companies applied for the tender. The vehicles, costing Rs. 8.7 million each, are due in Colombo by the end of this month.
An NPC member said that when they took oaths last year as councillors the then Consulate General of India in Jaffna had promised cars for them. “However, the Finance Ministry has turned down the request for duty concessions, saying it might have to give the same concessions to members of other PCs,” he said. The NPC member said the Chief Minister and ministers had been given state vehicles. Therefore, the eight SUVs would be given to the members who had been most active in social work in their areas. Early this week an anonymous letter was sent to NPC members, urging them not to accept the offer if everyone was not given a vehicle.