Chandigarh MC suspends 2 officials after Opposition slams ‘staged’ event

The Municipal Corporation (MC) has suspended two sanitation officials, Chief Sanitary Inspector Kulbir Singh and Inspector Sukh Prakash Sharma, for dereliction of duty during Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar’s cleanliness drive in Sector 22 on September 25.

As part of the Swachhata Hi Seva 2025 campaign, Khattar took part in a cleanliness drive near the Sector 22-D market in the morning. However, controversy arose after a video showing sanitation workers littering the market with garbage hours before the event went viral on social media.

The video, shot on a mobile phone, purportedly shows sanitation workers littering the street with dry leaves and paper. A Nagar Nigam Chandigarh cart full of trash could also be seen in the video.

Besides, a few residents of the sector, who were on a morning walk in the area, also claimed to have witnessed the act. They shared pictures in WhatsApp groups, raising further questions.

Opposition parties were quick to react, with the Chandigarh Congress alleging that local municipal authorities were forced to spread garbage on the road for the Union Minister’s “photo-op”.

They alleged that the BJP leaders took no concrete steps to improve the situation on the ground and only “stage events” to get their photos taken.

As soon as the video went viral on social media, Municipal Commissioner Amit Kumar ordered an investigation into the matter.

After the probe, Chief Sanitary Inspector Kulbir Singh and Inspector Sukh Prakash Sharma were found guilty of dereliction of duty. Both have been suspended.

The order issued by the Commissioner read, “Kulbir Singh (CSI) and Sukh Parkash Sharma (SI) are placed under suspension with immediate effect on account of dereliction of duty during the function of the Union Minister, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Manohar Lal Khattar, held on 25th September 2025. Both officials are hereby ordered to report to the MOH office during their suspension period.”

Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla, meanwhile, said the action was taken in view of the negligence of the employees, adding that the controversy had damaged the civic body’s image.

Lower-rank officials being made scapegoats: Oppn

Chandigarh Congress president HS Lucky said the MC was using lower-rank officials as “scapegoats” to save the top bosses, without whose orders, the action could not have been carried out.

Congress councillor Gurpreet Singh echoed the sentiment, saying that the party would raise the issue in the MC’s next General House meeting scheduled for September 30. “The incident shows the sanitation drive is a sham. Due to such acts, the ranking of the city in Swachh Survekhshan will suffer,” he added.

Aam Aadmi Party’s Chandigarh unit president Vijay Pal Singh said suspensions were not enough. “The higher-level officials involved in the act must be punished,” he said, adding that the episode has brought a bad name to City Beautiful.

The leader added that the BJP first staged the event and punished lower-rank officers when it was exposed.