As councillor, he likes to fight against MC for his ward

JALANDHAR: The councillor, who had vowed to give a better livable life to residents of Ward No. 78 before coming to power, had to sit on a dharna against the Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar, and that too, for a genuine demand of providing safai karamcharis to his ward, only a few days after he attained power. Besides, he took a broom in his hands and started cleaning roads himself.

A road in a dilapidated state in Ward No. 78 of Jalandhar. Photo: Sarabjit Singh

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 15

The councillor, who had vowed to give a better livable life to residents of Ward No. 78 before coming to power, had to sit on a dharna against the Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar, and that too, for a genuine demand of providing safai karamcharis to his ward, only a few days after he attained power. Besides, he took a broom in his hands and started cleaning roads himself.

In the second part of the series in which it is being looked into what the first-time councilors had thought before coming to power and what are they left to do after completing over 200 days as MC councillors, The Tribune talks about Jagdish Samrai (47), a Congress councillor who is working as a science lab attendant in a private school for the past 25 years. He has also remained vocal about grudges he has against the working of the corporation.

After he held a dharna, he is getting six safai karamcharis for his ward which is less than the number of karamcharis mentioned on the MC list.

“The number of safai karamcharis as per the list is nine, but not even for a single day, nine karamcharis have come, though I need around 30 for proper cleaning and maintenance of the ward,” Samrai said.

He has a big concern. He says that 80 per cent of the ward areas has no proper roads.

“The ward is just like a village, there is nothing like any provision for providing city’s basic amenities to the residents of the ward. Ward zarur bana ditta hai, par facility koi nahee (Ward has been created but there are no facilities),” the councillor said.

The Shiv Nagar area has come under the Municipal Corporation around 15-20 years ago but till now, roads have not been constructed in it.

“There are many roads in my ward that have not got recarpeted for years, now, a tender for that have been passed with my pursuance,” the councillor said.

In New Guru Nanak Nagar, after laying of sewerage pipes around four years ago, the corporation forgot to build the roads. Since years together almost all roads are in a bad state which never got repaired or rebuilt. But he is still hopeful that he will be able to fulfill all promises he has made with the residents.

“Even before I took oath as a councillor, I had given a letter to the authorities that I need at least 30 safai karamcharis for my ward, but no one listened, not even acknowledged my requests. Then, I decided to start a protest again the authorities,” Samrai said.

But the fight is still on. He has still given a 15 days’ notice to the corporation to give him the remaining sanitation workers.

The councillor says that even for such a genuine demand of having safai karamchris, he had to protest, how would it be possible to address other important and big issues.

The issues

Eighty per cent of the ward areas are sans proper roads. There are no requisite number of sanitation workers. Many roads have not been recarpeted for years.

New Guru Nanak Nagar, all roads are in a bad shape.