For more than six months now the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has not had three additional commissioners. After the retirement of Additional Commissioner R M Singh and H B Sharma in June last year,and K D Akolia more than a year ago,the MCD has yet to fill these vacancies. The MCDs recruitment regularisation for the post of additional commissioner clearly states the Corporation can have three additional commissioners on deputation from the Delhi government and three others are to be promoted from within the department itself. Its the deputy commissioners who are promoted to the next level as additional commissioners. For more than six months now,the MCD has not promoted any deputy commissioner to the post of additional commissioner. Instead,the Commissioner now plans to fill these vacancies by deputing officers from the Delhi government. The Appointment Committee of the MCD,on its part,feels the commissioner has been interfering in its working. We have four officers within the department who are eligible for the post of additional commissioner but the commissioner is not interested in taking them, Ram Kishan Singhal,chairman of the Appointment Committee,said. Singhal said the Delhi government is indirectly playing politics in the MCD. The Congress-led government in the State does not want that the MCD should have efficient staff. Its the state government that is indirectly interfering in the working of the Corporation, Singhal alleged. He said the commissioner doesnt respect the decisions made by the Appointment Committee. The commissioner wants to appoint his own people as additional commissioners, Singhal said. Municipal Commissioner K S Mehra has,however,denied these allegations. Mehra said that no deputy commissioner fits into the eligibility criteria for promotion to the next level. The Recruitment Rules of the MCD are an in-house policy. In case we dont have any officer available for the post,we cant hold the post vacant. We will have to take additional commissioners on deputation from the Delhi government, Mehra said. At present,the work is divided between three additional commissioners,Naresh Kumar,P C Tomar and Janak Diggal. All have charges.
