Even as the new building of the local municipal council (MC) was built after taking a loan of Rs 4 crore, officials thought it fit to spend Rs 6.28 lakh on the function to inuagurate the structure. The function was attended, among others, by local bodies minister Chunni Lal Bhagat and BJP state president Kamal Sharma.
According to information provided under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) activist Ajay Saroch, the MC took loan worth Rs 4 crore from Amritsar Improvement Trust to construct the new building near the Bhangi choe.
The loan is to be repaid in six installments. The MC revealed that so far it has repaid Rs 1.32 crore of the capital amount and Rs 44 lakh as interest in two installments.
"The MC should not have raised such huge loan at first place and even if it did, the give and take should have been free of interest as the loanee and the creditor, both were from the local bodies department," said AAP's national executive member advocate Naveen Jairath.
"Why should people be made to bear the burden if officials or councillors want to work in a posh office," he asked.
{{/usCountry}}"Why should people be made to bear the burden if officials or councillors want to work in a posh office," he asked.
{{/usCountry}}There was no mention of the debt in the budget presented recently, he added.