Monday's much-publicised public hearing session of UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil was criticised by the applicants who not only came out dissatisfied with the indifferent attitude of the Administrator towards their complaints but also raised slogans against him. High drama prevailed for over an hour with most of the applicants being up in arms against the UT Administrator. One of the applicants was allegedly pushed out of the session by the security staff and was hit by the security in order to suppress his voice. Later,the police did not allow the media to speak to the administrator over the issue. Refuting allegations,director public relations M M Sabharwal said,There is no reason for discontentment among applicants as all the issues which are brought up are screened,and their replies are also kept ready in advance by the officials concerned. However,if some applicant is giving a wrong statement after the hearing session,it is his choice. The session began at 12 noon and barely after 45 minutes,the trouble began when the 10th applicant,Om Parkash,out of the total 11,went inside along with his wife regarding police inaction in the alleged kidnapping of his son. I went inside and told the administrator that even after four and a half months of my sons kidnapping,police are only dilly-dallying and have not taken any action. When I pointed to the DGP sitting in the room,saying even meeting him bore no fruit,the administrator was miffed and told me that I cannot say anything to his officials, said Om Parkash. I was dragged out of the room and pushed by his security men. Why is he sitting in the highest chair if he cannot redress the problems faced by the public? Two other applicants,including a group of Kashmiri migrants,alleged that the session was a bluff and the administrator was doing nothing to redress the problems faced by the public. Said Bharat Bhushan Suri,president of the Kashmiri Migrants Association,We have been running from pillar to post since 2008 to get the house promised to us by the UT Administration on the directions of the Ministry of Home Affairs almost a decade and a half ago. There were 62 applicants who were identified by the UT Administration in 2008. Out of these,12 have been allotted houses in Indira Colony in Manimajra,but the remaining are still awaiting. Today when we asked the administrator about the houses to be allotted to us by the Chandigarh Housing Board,he said there were no houses for us and until the Centre came out with a specific scheme,nothing would be given to us. The administrator was completely indifferent and unsympathetic towards us, said the members of the association. Even after two decades,we are still migrants without a house. Where should we go now? Another applicant,Karishma Bhatia,who accused her husband and in-laws of throwing her out of the house,alleged that the administrator told her we are not here to sort out issues of marital discords and have other important issues to deal with. Another complainant,a resident of Sector 48,told the administrator that the administration was unable to tackle the issue of stray dogs and cattle menace. To this,the administrator,as per the complainant,replied that if there were no dogs,there would be a severe problem of rats in the city.
