Councillors stage walkout from House meet

No sooner the meeting began at 9 am,councillor Rajinder Prasad Sharma raised the issues of alleged corrupt practices of an MC clerk and widespread encroachments around the city.

Joined by others,Sharma questioned the executive officer as to why the said clerk was not shunted from his post even after a unanimous resolution was adopted by the MC House long ago. The councillors added that the clerk had been caught red-handed several times in the past.

When the councilors did not get any satisfactory reply from the EO,they walked out of the meeting hall raising slogans against MC officials,whom they accused of being hand in glove with the “corrupt” MC clerk.

In addition to the MC chief,councillors Sharma,Suresh Kumar Lucky,Gian Chand Aggarwal,Manjit Kaur,Usha Rani (all from the ruling group),Paramjit Singh Kahlon,Phoolraj Singh,Gurmukh Singh Sohal,Harpal Singh,Sukhminder Singh Barnala,Mohanbeer Singh Shergill,Kuldeep Kaur Kang,Ravinder Kaur,Baljit Kaur,Amrik Singh,Amteshwar Kaur and others from the opposition group boycotted the meeting saying the MC officials do not care for accountability,transparency and responsiveness.

“If the House cannot get a clerk shifted on serious charges of corruption,then the public cannot expect much from such a body,” a councilor said.

Councillor Kuljit Singh Bedi raised the issue of drinking water crisis in the city and accused the MC officials of not paying any heed to the public woes.

However,MC Executive Officer Amana Kumar Goel refuted the charges and claimed that all the resolutions adopted by the House could be implemented only after a formal approval from the Local Government Directorate.

Meanwhile,MC senior vice-president Harman Preet Singh Prince,who skipped the meeting,demanded immediate removal of MC president Rajinder Rana,whom he accused of being “responsible for all problems in the MC and the city”.