Ludhiana, April 11
Lok Insaaf Party chief-cum-MLA from Atam Nagar constituency Simarjit Singh Bains has demanded from the Local Bodies Minister to register an FIR against MC officials, whose audio clip went viral.
In the clip, MC Patiala secretary Jasdev Singh Sekhon, who was earlier deployed at Ludhiana MC, is allegedly abusing and threatening MC Ludhiana Superintendent Rajeev Bhardwaj, Bains said. In clip, the sectary is allegedly asking Bharadwaj as to why he (Bharadwaj) took action against his men (street vendors).
Bains alleged that the audio clip had exposed the MC officials, who allegedly charge illegal fee from street vendors to allow them to station their carts on roads. He has written a letter to Local Bodies Minister, Punjab, Navjot Singh Sidhu and demanded that an FIR be registered against both officials.
He claimed that around 40,000 rehri-phadis are set up on city roads. The rehri mafia, in connivance with MC officials, collects around Rs200 crore as illegal fee from these street venders every year. He claimed that the MC has failed to set up vending zones for street vendors in the city as per the policy for street vendors. He alleged that the MC officials are deliberately not implementing the policy. TNS