MC to clean statues at least once in a month

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 15

The Municipal Corporation (MC) has decided to clean all the statues in the city at least once in a month.

Senior Deputy Mayor Raman Bakshi has submitted a proposal to the MC General House.

There are more than 20 statues of personalities, such as Sikh rulers, martyrs, freedom fighters, political leaders and ideologues, in the city. Residents often complain about the shabby state of such statues in the absence of proper upkeep. Some NGOs, including Amritsar Civil Society, voluntary wash the statues of Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

The Senior Deputy Mayor feels that this is a disrespect to the great personalities, and people consider it a responsibility of the MC. No government has taken the initiative to clean the statues.

Raman Bakshi, Senior Deputy Mayor, said, “Governments install statues but no one has so far made any provision for the proper upkeep of them. I have submitted a proposal to clean theses statues once in a month. It can be clean once in a week too as it will not make any financial burden on the Municipal Corporation. We have 12 MC zones. A sub-divisional officer can take care of the statues in his respective zone.”

Talking on the ideological conflicts, Raman Bakshi said, “Earlier, all freedom fighters were considered equal but the scenario nowadays has changed as political parties have created differences on the bases of ideology. We don’t have any issue with any of the statue in the city. All will be treated equally.”