Mayor calls on ‘upset’ officials

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 22

The matter of officials boycotting the MC General House meeting that has become the talk of the town was discussed today when Mayor Jagdish Raja called upon the meeting with the ‘upset’ officials. In the meeting, the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act was discussed to put forward points by the Mayor and the officials.

Notably, the questions asked to a building inspector during the MC General House meeting did not go well with officers of various branches, which resulted in a dramatic move as the latter boycotted the meeting which left the Mayor, councillors and others present shocked.

To this, the officials after boycotting the meeting had said they would only answer every question in written to the House.

In today’s meeting, the Mayor, however, gave them the reference of the Municipal Corporation Act and said there was a provision in the Act that they were answerable to every question that was asked by the councillors. The Mayor made it clear in the meeting that the questions could be asked on the moment too and it was as per the law.

“Neither I nor anyone can go against the law,” he said.

The officials also told him that objectionable language was used in the MC House meeting, to which Raja said he did not know about it and would check the matter.

The Mayor said as per the Act, it was necessary for the officials to be present in the meeting, to which an official said according to their knowledge, it was the civic body which was answerable and not them.

Politicians are also part of corruption: Officials

The officials said the councillors could not say that the officials were corrupt because if that was the case, then they all were also the part of this corruption. They said they don’t want to come forward and answer questions on microphone during the meeting.

The issue

Mandeep Jassal, Congress councillor, during the Zero Hour had raised an issue that earlier an unauthorised building in his ward was constructed, but when the building was taken on rent, the building inspector, Neeraj Sharma, sealed it, saying that it was an illegal building. Neeraj was then called forward and he had named an MLA and said it was due to political pressure that he had initiated the action, after which the officials had boycotted the meeting.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation, Diprava Lakra, said today that the survey of illegal buildings of the Rama Mandi area would be done and the number of illegal buildings would also be checked.

He said the survey would start in a day or two. Two days ago, the owners of the two buildings in the Rama Mandi area held a press conference and alleged that a building branch inspector, the Assistant Town Planner (ATP) and a draftsman had demanded money from them for issuing a no objection certificate (NOC).