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Anti-encroachment drive postponed abruptly
THE ANTI-ENCROACHMENT drive launched by the municipal corporation was postponed the very next day it started, under intense political pressure. However, municipal corporation officials claimed that the drive had been postponed in view of Moharram and will be continued after the Islamic month ends.
THE ANTI-ENCROACHMENT drive launched by the municipal corporation was postponed the very next day it started, under intense political pressure.
However, municipal corporation officials claimed that the drive had been postponed in view of Moharram and will be continued after the Islamic month ends.
It is to be noted that when the drive began, several encroachments had been removed from both sides of the road near Dharmshala Bazar.
There were plans to carry out the drive from Asuran crossing to Medical College on Tuesday but the plan was given up.
Deputy municipal commissioner KS Avasthi said the drive had been postponed in absence of proper police force and municipal staff.
Resentment among staff
MUNICIPAL CORPORATION employees are up in arms against alleged step-motherly treatment meted out to them by the State Government.
They staged a demonstration at the municipal commissioner’s office and demanded the same facilities as granted to State Government employees and teachers.
Gorakhpur Nagar Nigam Employees’ Coordination Committee district president Kaushal Kumar Shukla said resentment was brewing among employees and they hade decided to stage a statewide demonstration on February 3 and 4. They will hand over a memorandum to the municipal commissioner to draw the government’s attention.
Coordination committee secretary Ramprakash Singh and Mohd Hadees said if the government did not fulfil their demands by February 14, the employees would stage a demonstration at the municipal corporation office. From the next day, they will go on strike. He appealed to employees to express solidarity on the issue.
The State Government has virtually agreed to merge 50 per cent of DA in basic salaries of State Government employees and teachers from April 2004. While the state employees’ union welcomed the decision, corporation employees expressed displeasure over the alleged partial attitude of the government. Employees’ leader Jawahar Lal Verma, Ghanshyam Gupta and others said corporation employees would not tolerate step-motherly treatment by the Government.
