UP power minister had a fleet of 26 cars.

The Times of India: Lucknow:Friday, March 02, 2012.

How many cars do you think a minister might possibly need? Don't even try guessing if it's UP's powerful minister for power, Ramveer Upadhahy. From November 2008 till December 2010, the minister had at his disposal a fleet of 26 cars.

This startling fact, which brings into sharp focus the corruption and blatant abuse of power in UP, came to light after former Lok Sabha MP Bhanupratap Verma filed an RTI application. It cost the government Rs 1.37 crore to maintain this super fleet.

The minister was entitled to one car which was provided by the estate department. For this, the fuel sanctioned per month is 125 litres for local travel. But Upadhya got 25 more cars for himself from the UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL).

This fleet of 25 more cars was provided to him for 460 days from November 2008 to February 2010. Of them, two were dedicated to his security personnel and the remaining were for his personal use, which means he, his family members, personal staff, and even followers used them. However, immediately after the RTI information came to light, these cars were said to have been withdrawn from the minister.

This extravagance put the loss-making UPPCL under stress, which had to cough up Rs 1.37 crore to take care of the minister's luxury. Nearly 80% of this cost was incurred on fuel and the remaining 20% on the maintenance of these cars.

The amount spent by the UPPCL worked out to Rs 8.55 lakh per month and this was the expenditure incurred by the minister on his conveyance every month.

Cleverly, these cars were allotted by UPPCL from its different pools. While 18 cars were attached to the minister from its headquarters at Shakti Bhawan, Lucknow, seven were drawn from the Hathras division. According to its own admission made by UPPCL, Rs 10,97,199 were spent on the fuel and Rs 1,28,465 on the maintenance of a car (UP 32 CM-2771) attached to the minister from Hathras division for 10 months between October 2010 and January 1, 2011. The cost involved for three other cars (UP 80 AX-1500, UP 32 CU-4910 and UP 32 CU 4911) from the Hathras division was Rs 1,09,720 on fuel and Rs 12,847 on maintenance.

Upadhay had come under the Lokayukta scanner after charges of corruption of were brought against him. He has time till March 5 to file his reply.