PCMC chief directs officials, staff to disclose business interests, remove encroachments
PCMC chief Rajesh Patil asked officials and employees not to take part in business activities or indulge in illegal activities other than doing their civic job. "Otherwise, disciplinary action will be taken," he warned.
Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Commissioner Rajesh Patil. (File)
IN a bid to curb corruption and make functioning of the civic body more transparent, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Commissioner Rajesh Patil has directed all officials and employees to disclose their business interests.
In the directives issued on Friday, the PCMC chief has asked civic officials and employees to take extra precautions and ensure that they do not take part in any illegal activity. “Otherwise, disciplinary action will be taken against them,” he warned.
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“PCMC has officers from Class A to Class D. Such officers and employees look after administrative and financial aspects of the civic body. While discharging their daily duties, these officers and employees come in contact with several citizens, contractors and other institutions. To get work done, some people offer bribes. At the same time, it can’t be denied that some officers and employees also ask for money to get civic works done. Such acts could invite disciplinary action against officials and employees concerned,” stated the directive.
Patil also warned civic officials against setting up any illegal structures, saying, “There is a possibility that some officers and employees have constructed structures without required permission or have constructed structures on land reserved for public amenities. Such acts of officers and employees could damage the public image of the civic body and result in violation of Maharashtra Civil Services Act, 1979. All officers and employees should ensure that such violations do not take place”.
Patil directed civic officials and employees to remove any encroachments which they have set up on land reserved for public amenities.
“The encroachments should be removed on their own expenditure. If the civic body comes across these encroachments, they will be removed and disciplinary action will be taken against officials and employees. All officers and employees should strictly ensure that they do not participate in any illegal activity.”
Every employee and officer who is running a business or is managing a business should disclose the information to the civic body, said Patil.
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He said every official and employee is also being asked to disclose their business interests or activities. “It is mandatory for every officer or employee to provide information about the business they or their family is running.”
Additional Municipal Commissioner Vikas Dhakane said, “The directives have been issued following complaints against officers and staffers. The PCMC chief is trying to ensure transparency and effective administration. He had done a similar thing in Odisha where he had served as the district collector. He was even felicitated by the Odisha government for his initiatives.”
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Welcoming the PCMC chief’s directives, Namdeo Dhake, House leader in PCMC, said, “Such an order was also issued by former municipal commissioner Shrikar Pardeshi. It will put curbs on wrongdoings by officials and employees. If the order is implemented, civic functioning will become more transparent.”
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Civic activist Kailas Jadhav, however, said, “Issuing directives and implementing them are two different things. If the PCMC chief is really serious, then he should dig deep into the activities of officials and employees, he will find many hidden skeletons… several PCMC officials and employees have their own businesses which have a lot to do with the civic body.”
Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.
Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives.
Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees.
During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa.
Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died.
Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More
