Guard of honour restricted in MP

Bhopal, July 30 (UNI) The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues will no longer be inspecting the guard of honour while touring districts and the system will be restricted to national festivals such as Independence Day and Republic Day.

''The police personnel concerned will be deployed in maintaining law and order and other important work. Doing away with red lights over ministers' vehicles is also under consideration,'' Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told reporters in the Assembly press room today.

The philosophy behind the decision is that the Chief Minister and his ministerial colleagues are public representatives and therefore there should be no distinction between them and the masses.

Earlier, the guard of honour was inspected every morning by a minister during his or her stay in a government resthouse.

UNI