Taking stern action against 10 executive officers (EOs) of municipal councils and an improvement trust for delays in delivering public services, the Punjab Transparency and Accountability Commission has directed recovery of unpaid fines of ₹10,000 each from their salaries.
Slapped over the past few months to enforce accountability within the state’s urban local bodies, the penalties have remained unrecovered.
Shooting off a communication to the local government department, commission’s chief commissioner Vijay Kumar Janjua has sought immediate recovery through salary deduction, along with a compliance report and proof of deposit into the commission’s bank account.
The 10 officers were penalised under Section 16 (3) of the Punjab Transparency and Accountability in Delivery of Public Services Act, 2018, for failing to deliver notified services within prescribed timelines.
The list of penalised executive officers includes Chetan Sharma, Amloh municipal council (Fatehgarh Sahib); Happy Kumar, Mullanpur Dakha municipal council (Ludhiana); Charnjit Singh, Khanna municipal council (Ludhiana); Chander Parkash, Ahmedgarh municipal council (Malerkotla); Ravneet Singh, Dera Bassi municipal council (Mohali); Sukhdev Singh, Kharar municipal council (Mohali); Randip Singh Warraich, Jandiala municipal council (Amritsar); Poonam Bhatnagar, Ferozepur municipal council; and Rajesh Chaudhary, Jalandhar Improvement Trust.
Sukhdev Singh was penalised in connection with 182 non-residential and 465 residential building plan applications remaining pending beyond the stipulated timeline.
{{/usCountry}}Sukhdev Singh was penalised in connection with 182 non-residential and 465 residential building plan applications remaining pending beyond the stipulated timeline.
{{/usCountry}}Other cases include 103 delayed non-residential building plan applications in Amloh, 43 in Mullanpur Dakha, 51 in Ahmedgarh, 52 in Dera Bassi and 24 in Khanna.
The commission also cited delays in building plan approvals in Jandiala and Ferozepur, while the Jalandhar Improvement Trust case relates to delays in the transfer of property following sale.
Invoking Section 16 (3) in its communication, the commission underlined that it had the authority to impose a penalty of up to ₹10,000 per case on officials responsible who fail to discharge their duties without sufficient cause.
Citing Rule 8 of the 2018 Act, providing for penalty for default or delay, the commission said the competent authority was required to recover the penalty from the next salary or remuneration of the officer concerned and deposit it into the commission’s bank account.
The commission’s intervention exposes a troubling two-layered accountability failure: citizens face delays in accessing municipal services and even penalties imposed on officials for such lapses remain unrecovered.
The latest directive now puts the onus on the local government department to ensure that the commission’s orders are enforced rather than allowed to remain on paper.
The letter has been marked to local government administrative secretary Ganshyam Thori and department director Harsuhinder Pal Singh Brar for swift action.