Challenge is to make MC corruption-free: Panchkula Mayor

Residents have a lot of complaints against the MC. Primarily, they highlight pending inquiries into the quality of roads.

I had proposed to Commissioner Jagdeep Dhanda to write a letter to the vigilance department to expedite such inquiries. If you want to ensure good quality of roads, then you have to get sampling done from a good laboratory, which takes time. But the problem is that the local institutes do not have such facilities. PEC, Sector 12, Chandigarh, does not have its own laboratory. NITTTR, Sector 26, Chandigarh is not reliable. I have learnt from sources that they can get the samples approved if you pay a bribe of Rs 5,000. So I insisted that sampling should be done at Shri Ram Laboratories, Delhi, which also conducts sampling for the NHAI. In their last report, they had failed two samples, while passed one. This means contractors are not working properly. Then, e- tendering was started by the government, but then these contractors started filling the lowest bids. They must be compromising with the officers at some level. Why do they have lowest bids all the time? That means kuch gadbad hai yahan inki (there is some problem there). That’s why there is a vigilance probe. For instance, Rs 40 lakh was recently spent on patch-work of roads. I don’t know where the money went. So I suggested that we use our own material and road roller.

It is often seen that most of the tenders invited by the MC have to be re-invited due to poor response. Contractors do not want to invest because they allege that they are not paid on time and that there are pending inquiries.

I do not understand as to why contractors think like that. If they use construction material in the right proportions, then why are they so afraid of getting the sampling done? There is no reason to fear. Par wo darte hain, kyunki wo gadbad karte hain. (They fear because they indulge in corruption).

Sanitation is the primary function of the corporation. Yet, there are complaints about lack of sanitation.

As per government norms, we require one sanitation worker per 400 people. In Panchkula, which has a population of 4 lakh, there are at least 1,000 sanitation workers needed. But we have only around 680 workers. We have written to the government to fill these vacancies. My ward is majorly affected by this. This is why we have decided to outsource the sanitation work of one ward so that we can ease some workers and divide them among other sectors. If the system works, then we can outsource the work for one more ward.

When you came to power, you said rural areas would be your priority. What have you done in that regard?

We have been trying to provide basic amenities including roads, sanitation facilities and street lights. We have also moved a proposal for installing LED lights in villages under the MC.

What is your opinion on the HUDA-MC debate over jurisdiction, which is often argued to be a reason for slow development work in Panchkula?

Every department has its own way of functioning. At times, our officers cause delay in clearing files, while on other occasions, a file is cleared late in HUDA, which is slower than us in executing work.

What is being done to ensure better functioning of the civic body?

We are planning to buy a machine which will instantly reveal the ratio of bitumen in the construction material used for re-carpeting of roads. For sanitation, we have hired 30 tractor trolleys to collect garbage, and they need to make two rounds daily. We have got complaints that they do not complete 60 rounds. So, we have deputed one person to keep a tab on the number of rounds. We have also passed tenders worth Rs 2 crore for installation of CCTV cameras across the town. We will also install one high-tech CCTV camera at the dumping ground. This will bring in transparency. People pay taxes, and it is their money which we get. If we are not able to provide good services, then what is the point?

Property tax is a major source of revenue generation for MC, but it has no record of property tax collected so far. Two months ago, the MC House decided that a private agency will be roped in, but nothing has been done.

We have invited tenders to allot the work of maintaining records to a private agency. There was no record with the MC, even before I became a Mayor, rather ever since the MC started functioning. I was the first one to get an audit done after I became the Mayor. There were as many as 58 accounts, and there was no record of where the money was going. But we have now consolidated it and put the money in six banks. Auditing is also done. Corruption has not come now; it has existed ever since the corporation started functioning. The major challenge is how to make MC corruption-free.

You are a Congress-affiliated Mayor in a district which has a BJP MLA and BJP dominance. Does this cause any friction in terms of functioning?

Nahi. Aesi to koi baat nahi. (No. There is no such problem) (smiles). My way of functioning is such that I do not work on party lines. I have to look after developmental projects. I have never discriminated against any councillor, irrespective of his/her party affiliation.

After Panchkula lost the smart city race, people pointed out that it was due to an apparent tussle between Congress and BJP fractions. Local BJP MLA Gian Chand Gupta had blamed you for missing the deadline.

We lost because the post of the Commissioner was vacant that time. I had nothing to do with it (pauses). Moreover, we can make our city smart our own way. I think other districts which are not as good as us need the smart city project more than us.

When people elect us, they do not elect us on party lines. They see who will get their work done. My objective is that I should rise above party lines and work for people. I want to work for my country (smiles). I want to work for my town. If you think like this, only then will the country progress (smiles).

What is next on your priority list?

We are planning to develop the unauthorised colonies. A survey in this regard has been done. We want that the government give us permission so that we can provide basic amenities in these colonies.

How will the civic body deal with the shortage of staff?

We have requested Minister Kavita Jain to do something in this regard. We need an executive engineer, but primarily we need more sanitation workers. Outsourcing will only solve 10 per cent of the problem.

Your appeal to residents. What can they expect in the next few years of your term?

The major problem is of roads. There may be a delay in re-carpeting of roads, but they will be of good quality. People will have to wait for that.