Chandigarh MC chief leaves meet after repeated queries by councillors on sanitation staff’s salary dues

Upset over repeated questions by BJP councillor and former Senior Deputy Mayor Kanwarjeet Singh Rana, MC Commissioner Amit Kumar today left a meeting with councillors, which was convened by Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla to provide ward development fund.

Sources said a high drama was witnessed in the meeting after Rana asked Kumar why sewerage wing employees had not been paid their salaries for past five months.

The controversy began after councillor Gurpreet Singh raised the issue of non-payment of salaries to the sanitation employees. He said before doing anything, the MC should first pay their salaries. The Commissioner replied that one month’s salary had been given to them. On this, BJP councillor Rana asked him to give reasons why the four month salary dues had not been paid to those employees.

Rana said instead of answering the question, the Commissioner told him that this was not a House meeting where he had to answer queries and left the meeting along with officers. He said the city residents had elected councillors to raise questions on their behalf. It was his legal and constitutional right to seek replies from officers, he added.

The former Senior Deputy Mayor said when all officials were getting salary, why were the lower-rung employees being deprived of it. These employees had been protesting for a long time. Their families were in distress. In such conditions, they had no option but to know the reason, he said.

AAP councillor Yogesh Dhingra also supported the demand for giving salary to the sewerage wing staff.

An official, who attended the meeting, said it was not the questions which made the Commissioner upset, but the manner in which the questions were being repeatedly asked. He said the officials were not prepared for questions in such routine meeting as they prepare for House meetings. He said the Commissioner had already made his point clear, but questions were still being asked on the matter.

The Mayor claimed that no such incident happened during the meeting. The Commissioner left as he had some other official work, she said. Babla said the meeting was called for giving funds to the councillors so that they could get emergency works in their wards started. She said it had been decided to give Rs 25 lakh to each councillor for development works.

Another councillor said the financial crisis in the civic body not only affected the development works in the city, but had started affecting the relationship between officials and councillors.