Document verification hit as MC house dissolved

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 20

MC Commissioner Amit Kumar has been made administrator of the MC House after the end of its tenure on September 18. Confusion, however, prevails among residents as to who will attest and stamp there routine documents.

Earlier, the councillors had powers to attest the certificates of domicile, verification of caste, low income group application, verification of the old age pension beneficiaries and signing the bail documents to get inmates released from jail. The Municipal Corporation (MC) did not make any announcement about the way residents can get their work done. Former councillors say residents will suffer to get stamp their documents for the next three months till the MC elections. They accuse the government of delay in holding elections that results in an inconvenience to residents.

Former councillor Surinder Singh Sultanwind, AAP leader, said, “A large number of residents used to visit councillors to get their documents attested in routine. Now, we don’t have the powers to do so. The government has appointed MC Commissioner as the administrator. How can an officer sit outside the court to sign bail bond. Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu is responsible for the delay in the elections.”

Raj Kawalpreet Singh Lucky, former councillor and senior Congress leader, said, “The Deputy Commissioner and MC Commissioner will make an alternative arrangement as we don’t have powers to sign any document. If the DC allows us to attest documents and sign the bail orders, we have no objection. The former government is responsible for not completing the delimitation of wards in time.”

Sourabh Arora, Joint Commissioner of the MC, said, “I think there will be some provision to get the documents signed from some other person. We will check it. Otherwise residents will have to wait for the elections and constitution of new House.”