The entire nation is mourning the death of India’s most loved and popular President APJ Abdul Kalam. The country never wanted to lose a personality like Kalam.
His immediate successor and another former President Pratibha Patil is once again in the news for wrong reasons. The controversies are not new to her.
she wants the Central government to foot her fuel bill, provide her an official vehicle and also allow her to use her private vehicle.
The government rules clearly state that a former President can avail either fuel allowance if he or she uses own vehicle or use a government vehicle.
This dual facility, officials said, is not permissible as former Presidents cannot avail official car as well as fuel allowance.
After a series of correspondence with her office over the past three months, Union Home Ministry officials have now asked her to decide on opting for an official car for her use or fuel allowance and not demand both.
All started with the withdrawal of the first official vehicle allotted to her as she did not like it. She demanded a bigger vehicle and as it was not allowed, she opted for fuel allowance.
Her office then started using her personal car and while she was travelling outside Pune, the district administration provided her the vehicle.
Now, sources said, the Maharashtra government objected to her demand for official car and took up the matter with Union Home Ministry.
According to a senior Home Ministry official said they could not provide the dual facility as the rules governing former President’s emoluments clearly state that an ex-President should be provided official car or fuel allowance.
Pratibha Patil, considered the least popular President till date is not new to controversies. Her own son and a former Congress MLA from Maharashtra had faced allegation when she was still the President. Her own brother was linked to an alleged murder.
When she demitted the office of the President, she was accused of carting away the gifts she received as the President of India. A Right to Information (RTI) query filed by Subhash Agarwal had revealed she had taken many expensive gifts given to her when she was the President to her hometown Amravati.
In his application, Subhash Agarwal had said that the former President must return all the gifts to the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The gifts included a stone box given to her as a memento by the US president Barack Obama in November 2010. Finally she was forced to return them to the Rashtrapati.
For her house in Pune, she wanted an army land. It also led to controversies. Compare these disgraceful acts with the most dignified acts of her predecessor Dr. Kalam, who brought prestige to the highest office he held.
According to his personal staff, he was least bothered about protocol etc. He was happy with his old ambassador car for a long time. Most of the time, he did not even use the air conditioner in the car.
