Only electric cars to ferry MPs this monsoon session

New Delhi : Electric cars are the future transport to ensure safe environment and to start the game it has been decided that the electric vehicles will only be used to ferry lawmakers to and from their homes in Lutyens’ Delhi during the monsoon session. 

“During the session, after the adjournment of the House, electric cars may be deployed for dropping off members,” said a note on the meeting that HT has seen.

Apart from the Lok Sabha secretariat, the government-run India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) provide cars in Parliament to ferry members.

It has been noted that more than 60 per cent of the parliamentarians prefer to use ferry vehicles due to parking constraints in the complex.

Meanwhile, using electric vehicles has been on the agenda of Parliament officials for a while. Two years ago, a couple of golf carts were purchased to commute within the Parliament estate. During Sumitra Mahajan’s tenure as Speaker (2009-14), a battery-operated minibus was also bought for MPs, but it was only of limited utility because it unsuitable for narrow lanes.

Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar uses the only e-car (Hyundai Kona) among the members of Parliament, while another Bharatiya Janata Party MP, Mansukh Mandviya, rides a bicycle to Parliament.

The Upper House, too, has reviewed the vehicles available to it, and is likely to get some e-cars.