When Purohit forced Chandigarh bureaucrats to roll back their decisions

Tainted officials reinstated, Purohit acts

Last month, UT Municipal Commissioner Anindita Mitra passed an order reinstating two officials caught red-handed accepting bribes from the CBI.

The order sparked widespread public outrage and political discontent.

Administrator Banwarilal Purohit reportedly directed the order’s retraction. Within a mere 48 hours of the order becoming public, Chandigarh Commissioner Anindita Mitra had no choice but to rescind the reinstatement
orders.

When the administrator junked MC travel plans

Purohit stepped in when the Chandigarh civic body decided to embark on a study tour to Goa, ostensibly to study waste management. There was widespread criticism among the residents regarding the use of taxpayers’ funds for this junket to a city that did not feature prominently in Swachh surveys. Purohit altered the Goa and Mumbai destinations, replacing them with Indore and Nagpur, emphasizing the importance of visiting progressive cities.

This move disrupted the plans of the municipal corporation prompting BJP and Congress councillors to not only abandon the revised itinerary, which included an extended stay in Goa and a visit to Mumbai, but also led to several individuals withdrawing from the trip.

Withdrawal of cap on fuel vehicles

The administrator, Purohit, also reversed what was once hailed as adviser Dharam Pal’s initiative. He ordered the complete removal of the cap on fuel-based vehicle registrations, expressing concerns about public harassment and perceived coercion for people to purchase EVs. Purohit went further to reprimand officials, questioning how they could compel individuals to invest in expensive EVs.

Double parking charges for non-Tricity residents

The Chandigarh administrator expressed displeasure when the Municipal Corporation opted to impose higher parking fees on vehicles lacking a Tricity registration number plate. After much outrage by residents of both Panchkula and Mohali, Purohit emphasized that the UT MC’s move was unjust, stating that differential parking rates between Chandigarh vehicles and those from other cities/states were unacceptable. Addressing the matter during the administrator’s advisory council meeting, he directed the civic body to promptly retract this decision, urging for its immediate correction.

When officials were ready to float tenders, Purohit held Sector 53 housing scheme

While the officials revived a Sector 53 general housing scheme and evenreadied a brochure and floated tenders worth crores, Purohit ordered that the scheme be put on hold. He asserted that there was no requirement of the scheme at present. He had said that the land is precious and could be saved for future generations. As a result, the officers then cancelled the Rs 200-crore tenders floated on August 2 for construction of 340 flats on nine acres.

No more air travel/luxury stay in Delhi

Purohit banned the air travel and luxury stay of officers going from Chandigarh to Delhi. The administrator while specifying that “officers should lead a simple life” ordered that they will travel only by Shatabdi.