Staff shortage hits Ambala MC working

Nitish Sharma

Tribune News Service

Ambala, July 2

Acute shortage of staff has left the Ambala Municipal Corporation struggling. Of the 193 sanctioned key posts, a total of 128 are lying vacant.

The posts lying vacant include those of Deputy Municipal Commissioner, District Town Planner, Naib Tehsildar, kanoongo, patwari, chief sanitary inspector, accountant, draftsman and zonal taxation officer.

“A majority of these posts have been lying vacant ever since the corporation started functioning in 2013. Recovery and enforcement are the biggest issues that the corporation is facing,” said a senior official.

“Due to shortage of staff, the corporation has not been able to recover taxes and keep a check on encroachment and illegal colonies. Records are not being properly maintained,” the official said.

As per information, all six sanctioned posts of draftsman are vacant and the corporation has hired two draftsmen through outsourcing.

Against the 46 sanctioned posts of clerk, there are only 16, including three re-employed retired clerks. As many as 106 employees have been working on different posts under the outsourcing policy.

Besides this, to reduce the financial burden, a large number of posts have been put in ‘diminishing’ cadre. Three are 643 posts in this cadre, of which 256 are vacant.

“In the absence of District Town Planner, there is no planning on the part of the corporation. The charge of planning is being taken care of by senior officials of the corporation,” said the official.

“On some occasions, the corporation gets directions to get demarcation done and produce the report. This is not possible in the absence of officials concerned. For this, we have to rely on officials of other departments and have to repeatedly request them,” said the official.

The revenue staffers were required to update records and monitor properties, the official said. Had there been ample staff, the corporation would be able to deliver more and work efficiently, the official said.

“The post of Deputy Municipal Commissioner is very important. It will become convenient for officials as well as for the public to get work done timely when senior officers are available,” the official added.

“There is shortage of staff, but efforts are being made to provide all services to the people. The state government is fixing the criteria and new appointments will soon be made against sanctioned posts,” said Satyender Duhan, Municipal Commissioner.