Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday said the State government has decided to give subsidy on the purchase of e-vehicles to encourage their use.
Mr. Khattar, his Ministers and BJP MLAs rode bicycles from the Chief Minister’s official residence to the Haryana Civil Secretariat to mark the World Car Free Day on Wednesday.
The Civil Secretariat is nearly 2km from Mr. Khattar’s official residence in Chandigarh. He has cycled the distance on a few occasions in the past also.
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Mr. Khattar, according to an official statement, said that in a bid to encourage the use of electric-vehicles, the State government has decided to give subsidy on their purchase. Speaking to reporters on the occasion, the Chief Minister appealed to people to cycle as often as possible, saying it is an affordable and environment-friendly mode of commuting.
The Chief Minister later drove an e-vehicle from the Secretariat back to his official residence. Earlier, he inaugurated an awareness exhibition on e-vehicles organised at the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh on the occasion of World Car Free Day. People consider vehicles as a status symbol so employees and officers use vehicles as the main mode of commuting even when they stay close to their offices, said the Chief Minister.
On the occasion, Mr. Khattar called upon people to take a pledge to adopt a car-pooling system or to travel on foot or cycle to nearby places.
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The Chief Minister also said plying of CNG buses has been encouraged in Gurgaon till now to curb pollution, but now the emphasis will also be laid on running e-buses and e-autos there too.
Among those who cycled from the Chief Minister’s residence to the Civil Secretariat included Education Minister Kanwar Pal, Transport Minister Mool Chand Sharma, Agriculture Minister J. P. Dalal and several MLAs.