Ludhiana MC officials accused of illegal gratification, vigilance department seeks action

Four Ludhiana MC officials, apart from illegal gratification, have also been accused of making huge ‘Benami’ properties on the name of their family members and relatives

Acting on a complaint received against four municipal corporation (MC) officials for allegedly accepting illegal gratification from contractors in lieu of allowing sub standard road construction works in the city, state vigilance department has asked the principal secretary of local bodies department to take required action on the complaint.

The complaint against Ludhiana MC officials, accused of illegal gratification, was submitted with chief secretary (CS) and vigilance department by an RTI activist in August last year. (Representative Photo/HT Files)

The complaint has been submitted against two superintending engineers (SE) Rahul Gagneja (Zone D) and Parveen Singla (Zone B) and two executive engineers Ramal Kaushal (Zone D) and Surinder Singh (Zone A) deputed in bridges and roads (B and R) department of MC.

The officials have also been accused of making huge ‘Benami’ properties on the name of their family members and relatives and have also failed to submit their annual property returns with the concerned authorities for the year 2016 to 2019.

Recently, the MC has received number of complaints regarding the poor-quality works being taken up ahead of assembly elections. The residents alleged that the hot mix material started wearing off within days or weeks after recarpeting of roads. The complaints have been received from Kitchlu Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Old GT road, Model Town-Jawaddi road, Dugri, Pakhowal road, among other areas.

MC commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal said the department can conduct inquiry into the allegations and even he had earlier written to the local bodies department to get the newly constructed roads checked by deputing a third party. “We are already monitoring the development work and if any anomalies are found, the contractor is directed to reconstruct the road portion or the payment to the contractor is stopped. I also conducted a meeting with the officials on Tuesday and they have been directed to keep regular check on quality of work,” said Sabharwal.

The complaint was submitted with chief secretary (CS) and vigilance department by an RTI activist in August last year. After the authorities failed to act against the officials, a third reminder was sent to CS office and vigilance department on December 31. Now, the vigilance department has written to principal secretary of local bodies department to take required action.