"The current climate of cynicism and distrust does not behove people's representatives flaunting such privileges. It is likely to be highly misunderstood and become the butt of ridicule and derision, rather than respect or awe", Singhvi said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
He says such beacon lights significantly increase the distance and connectivity between the people and their representatives. "While this is equally undesirable in the case of bureaucrats, it would be indefensible and fatal in the case of parliamentarians", he said in the letter.
Singhvi, a member of the Rajya Sabha, however, made it clear that he did not mean the slightest disrespect to MPs who have made the suggestion.
He said he believed that such beacons do little more than subserve an element of pomp and show. "To introduce this facility for 750 odd persons is going to do nothing more than add to the chaos of Delhi roads".
Singhvi's letter came close on the heels of a debate in the Lok Sabha last week which saw MPs from across the political spectrum making a strong demand for being given the right to sport red beacons atop their vehicle and said they would approach the Prime Minister in this regard.
They had said that the Privileges Committee of the Lok Sabha had made recommendation to the effect and sought to know why the government was delaying the measure.
