BATL restrained from using Govt of India

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In strict terms, supersonic missiles are also ‘’motorised vehicles,’’ but missile firm BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Ltd (BATL) has courted trouble with the Motor Vehicles Department for an altogether different reason - for sporting ‘Govt of India’ plates on its transport vehicles. The plates have come off from BATL vehicles following an order by Transport Commissioner T P Senkumar last week.BATL’s AITUC union had lodged a complaint with him saying that the company administration was cheating the employees and authorities since BATL, at Chakkai here, was neither a central PSU nor a Central Government firm.BATL, the BrahMos Employees Union said, was a company registered in Ernakulam and not a government entity. The complaint filed by AITUC secretary J Udayabhanu was accompanied by information obtained through RTI Act underscoring the point. Acting on it, an inspection was conducted at BATL last week and the company ordered to remove the plates, which it did by Saturday, sources said.BATL was formed in 2008 by taking over state-run KELTEC. Replying to an RTI query in June 2010, the BrahMos management had stated that KELTEC ‘’ceased to be a government company’’ on its take-over by Indo-Russian venture BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, and ‘’does not fall under the definition of ‘public authority’ under RTI Act, 2005.’’ But the interesting thing is, the status of BATL was immaterial as far as the ‘Govt of India’ plates are concerned. What in fact led to the action, which included a fine, is a Central Government directive saying that no organisation is authorised to sport the plates.‘’We had written to the Centre some months ago seeking advice regarding the use of the plates some months ago. And we received the reply that no one can use it. Several firms, such as VSSC, are using it. But strictly speaking, it is illegal,’’ the Transport Commissioner said.