CM hears out people in Ambala

Nitish Sharma

Tribune News Service

Ambala, April 30

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar held a ‘janata darbar’ at the police auditorium in Ambala City on the final day of his two-day visit here today.

Only 80 complaints were raised before the CM at the public meet. Khattar heard over 40 complaints and collected the rest. He directed officials to redress the complaints.

Complaints pertained to a dustbin scam, a loan fraud in sugar mill, a multi-crore Thatipur general power of attorney (GPA) scam in which fake GPAs were prepared from a non-existing tehsil — Thatipur — in Gwalior district of Madhya Pradesh, encroachments and non-compliance of Rule 134A.

He directed the departments concerned to complete inquiries pertaining to the issues and take action against erring officials. He also pulled up officials for long-pending inquiries.

Speaking to mediapersons, Khattar said, “The Thatipur GPA scam is a big scandal in which a large number of people have been cheated. The vigilance department is conducting an inquiry into it. We will ask the department to complete the probe soon. Strict action will be taken against those involved in the scam.”

During the ‘janata darbar’, a few teachers of an aided school raised the issue of low salaries. They asked the CM why there was a huge gap between the salaries of teachers working on sanctioned and unsanctioned posts in the same school. The teachers said, “While the teachers on sanctioned posts are getting handsome salaries, we have been finding it hard to even manage our household expenses.” While the CM assured them of finding a solution to the problem, the teachers were apparently dissatisfied with the assurance.

One of the teachers warned that due to the current situation, he felt like committing suicide and if anything happened “you all will be responsible”.

A few people complained that the DC rate was the lowest in Ambala as compared to other districts of the state. Taking note of it, the CM directed the DC to write a letter to the Finance Department and resolve the issue.

On the complaints of encroachments, Khattar said, “The CM Window is flooded with such complaints.” He directed officials to remove these.