No blue, red beacon lights from Friday in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow: A day after the central cabinet put an end to use of red beacon lights in all vehicles, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in a midnight missive ordered the same, with immediate effect across Uttar Pradesh.

In a communique issued by the Chief Minister's office, it was informed that use of blue and red beacon lights by ministers and officials was being ended from Friday. Army vehicles, ambulances, fire brigades and police vehicles will exempt from this decision, officials said. A decision was also taken by Adityanath to curtail the security cover of politicians and others.

Adityanath also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for this decision and said it would go a long way in ending VIP culture in the country and bring relief to the people. Soon after the cabinet decision on Wednesday, cabinet ministers Siddharthanath Singh and Rita Bahuguna Joshi had removed their beacons from official vehicles.