Shimla MC facing staff shortage

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 17

The Shimla Municipal Corporation (MC), the lone corporation in the state, is struggling hard to provide basic facilities to town residents. Reason: Acute staff shortage.

The total sanctioned strength of employees was 1,105 in 1984, catering to 60,000 people. Now the population has touched 2.30 lakh and a large number of employees have retired during the intervening period, but no regular appointments have been made, said MC Deputy Mayor Tikender Singh Panwar.

“The shortage of staff is telling upon the functioning of the Corporation which is finding it hard to cope up with increased workload and mobilise resources. The civic services are bursting at the seams,” he said.

As per the data procured from the MC, 169 posts were lying vacant which included two posts of assistant engineer, 17 posts of junior engineer, one post each of electrician and carpenter, 32 posts of clerk, three posts of food inspector, 12 sanitary jamadar, 76 posts of safai staff, while 77 posts were filled on contract or daily wage basis.

Panwar said no regular appointment had been made after 1984 and the MC was finding it difficult to carry on work due to staff crunch. “We are pooling employees to carry out works,” he said.

The wards have also been increased to 25 with the merger of adjoining Maliana, Totu and Kasumpti areas in the Municipal Corporation. One of the oldest municipalities of India, Shimla Municipal Corporation has a chequered history and has turned from one of the richest municipal body to a fund-starved Corporation in the past 164 years.

It was first constituted as a Municipal Committee in December 1851 and the first elections were held on August 26, 1855.After Independence the population increased and Shimla was divided into 14 wards and elections were held in 1953 and 1960.

However, the committee was upgraded into a Corporation in 1969 under an administrator and first elections were held in 1986.

However, there was no improvement in services and the corporation saw deterioration and it was virtually reduced to a government department with most of the services taken over by the government.

Shimla Municipal Committee had its own water supply scheme, power supply, local bus service, schools, college, library, hospitals, Town Hall and Shimla was the only town in the state to have its own fire service.

The autonomous character of “urban local body” was eroded and gradually all resources were taken over by the government and the situation has become so pathetic that all senior officers, including the Commissioner, health officer and municipal engineers are deputed by the government.