Record of 112 MC properties missing

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 21

In a glaring act of negligence, the record of at least 112 properties, out of 174, leased out by the Municipal Corporation has gone missing.

The issue surfaced after an RTI activist sought information about it from the civic body. The MC reply states that the civic body has records of only 62 properties out of 174 it has given on lease in the last few years.

The reply further reads that an investigation to trace the records of the remaining properties is under way and relevant information to the applicant will be provided on its completion.

Activist Ravinder Sultanwind, who had filed the RTI query, has now filed a complaint with the Mayor and MC Commissioner Sonali Giri alleging that certain employees had been involved in misplacing the records to benefit the allottees.

Sultanwind said, “A thorough investigation to investigate the role of the employees concerned should be conducted. It is a case of criminal negligence to harm the financial interests of the MC.”

Senior leaders of the MC House, including Senior Deputy Mayor Raman Bakshi, had earlier raised concerns about the issue adding that in absence of the relevant documents it would be difficult for the MC to identify such properties and know if their lease had expired.

It is worth mentioning here that almost all the land record of the city relating to the era of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and British has gutted due to fire incidents. Now, there is no authentic record of property ownership. The MC had recently started a drive to identify the leased out properties and gave the settlement offer to the occupants. Missing of land record is a major setback to the MC’s drive to strengthen its financial condition.