ZP member quits over ‘substandard’ construction work in Kangra district
Pandemonium was witnessed at the Kangra Zila Parishad’s quarterly meeting in Dharamsala on Thursday. Joginder Singh, aka Panku, a Zila Parishad member from Bhadiara, showing his total dissatisfaction over the undue delay in investigation in an allegedly substandard construction work, tendered his resignation after a heated debate in the House.
Unwilling to listen to the repeated requests of Vinay Kumar, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and ADC Kangra, who presided over the meeting for the first time, he kept raising the issue in the House.
As per the CEO, the said contractor had been asked to hand over the building next week and after a thorough inquiry into the matter, suitable action would be taken against the defaulter.
The matter relates to the repair of a heritage hall with a balcony and verandah on three sides. The construction work for roofing, floor tiles and a bathroom awarded to a contractor way back in 2021 and getting executed by Rural Development and Panchayati Raj remains unfinished till date.
NC Negi, Executive Engineer, RDPR, when asked for this unusual delay and alleged misappropriation, said they had told the contractor to repair the crumbling tiles and the hall would be handed over to the Zila Parishad the next week. He also talked about penalty likely to be imposed on the contractor.
Panku, the complainant member, has information pertaining to this alleged misuse of funds taken under the RTI Act which he shared with The Tribune. He has already registered a complaint with the state Vigilance Department for probe and said that the expenditure was inflated at least by Rs 10 lakh.
Ramesh Brar, Chairman, Zila Parishad, also felt that Rs 37 lakh was an exorbitant amount and the building should have been handed over long ago. Talking to The Tribune, he said Panku’s resignation was not accepted and he would remain a member of the House, constituted among others by 54 members of the ZP and 15 chairmen of block samitis of the entire district.
Brar showed his displeasure at the government officials abstaining from the meeting.
