Vij raids Karnal MC, suspends five for dereliction of duty

Parveen Arora
Tribune News Service
Karnal, December 4

Urban Local Bodies Minister Anil Vij on Wednesday suspended four officials and one Class IV employee of the Karnal Municipal Corporation (KMC) for alleged dereliction of duty.

He even recommended the appointment of a full-time Commissioner for the KMC as the present Commissioner, Nishant Kumar Yadav, has dual charge. Apart from looking after the Commissioner’s post, he has the charge of the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC).

Ram Kumar, Deputy Director (Audit); LC Chauhan, XEN; Lakhmi Chand Raghav, SDO; Mohan Singh, DTP; and Deepak Kumar, peon; are the suspended officials of the KMC.

Vij reached the office of the KMC at 3.15 pm and remained there till 5.45 pm. He inspected most of the branches and reviewed the files lying on the tables. He even scolded some of the employees for not taking the letters marked by the Mayor seriously. Most of the officials were found absent from their offices.

First, he reached the office of SDO Lakhmi Chand Raghav and observed that no reply was given on a file related to work in a colony of ward-2.

Dissatisfied with the reply of the SDO, Vij ordered his suspension. He reached the office of Deputy Director Audit and found there was no record related to any file in his office. He also suspended him with immediate effect.

Later, he reached the office of XEN and found him absent from office. However, the XEN reached there and informed the minister that he was in the office of Deputy Commissioner in relation with an issue ordered by the Chief Minister, but Vij did not consider his reply and suspended him also.

On a complaint related to encroachment, the Home Minister suspended the DTP. The peon was suspended when Vij asked him to write something, but he was not able to write.

The minister made it clear that all officials and employees would have to work to deliver the services to the people of Karnal on time. He interacted with the councillors, who demanded the establishment a ‘Saral Kendra’ desk in the office of KMC for the convenience of the people.

While talking to mediapersons, Vij said that the work was not being done properly. “No record is being maintained by the officials, so I have taken action against some officials,” he added.

Vij said that he has asked the SPs, DCPs, CPs to inspect police stations regularly. They have also been directed to conduct ‘khula darbar’ to listen to the grievances of the people.