Frequent transfer of Dharamsala MC Commissioner hits key projects

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, April 6

The frequent transfer of the Dharamsala Municipal

Corporation (MC) Commissioner has hit the implementation of development programmes in the city, including the projects under the Smart City Mission.

The Dharamsala MC was upgraded from a council to a corporation in 2015. In the last eight years, eight MC commissioners have been posted in the civic body, with four of them having a stint of less than six months.

Barring Pradeep Thakur, who remained on the post of MC Commissioner for more than three years during the previous BJP government, the tenure of all others had lasted from six to 12 months.

Fixed tenure needed

The govt should keep a fixed tenure of officials who are in-charge of national projects, such as the Smart City Mission, to ensure their proper implementation. — Ankit Sharma, Dharamsala resident

The first commissioner to be posted in the Dharamsala MC after it was upgraded to a corporation was Rakesh Sharma. He took the charge on December 15, 2015, and his tenure ended after four months on April 25, 2016.

After Sharma, Vikas Labroo was posted Commissioner on April 27, 2016, and his tenure also ended after four months. JM Pathania was posted as the commissioner on August 9, 2016, and his stint lasted for six months.

Lalit Jain was the next MC Commissioner posted on February 20, 2017. His tenure lasted for six months. Sandeep Kadam took charge as the commissioner on January 17, 2018, and his tenure ended after one year and six months.

Pradeep Thakur remained the longest serving commissioner of the Dharamsala MC. He was posted here on July 6, 2019, and his tenure lasted for about three years. Anurag Chander Sharma was posted commissioner on January 23, 2023, and his tenure ended in January this year after a

one-year tenure.

Sunil Rana, a resident of Dharamsala, said under the Smart City Mission, more than Rs 650 crore had been spent, but no major change was visible in the town. “One of the reasons for this was frequent transfer of the MC commissioners, who were also acting as the managing directors of the project. It seems most of the development projects in the city were implemented at the whims of politicians as any officer who did not heed to their diktats was transferred,” he said.

Another resident of the town, Ankit Sharma, said the previous commissioner of the Dharamsala MC, Anurag Chander Sharma, had started some ambitious projects under the Smart City Mission, but he was transferred within a year due to political reasons. “The government should keep a fixed tenure of officials who are in-charge of national projects such as the Smart City Mission to ensure proper implementation,” he said.