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Repatriation of DCs raises questions

Staff Reporter

Resentment over no penal action against them for illegal constructions

NEW DELHI: The repatriation of two Deputy Commissioners (DCs) to their parent cadre on Friday has raised many eyebrows in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi with officials accusing the civic body administration of adopting a pick-and-choose policy while dealing with officials who allowed unauthorised constructions in their areas.

Though the civic body spokesperson termed the transfer of DCs -- Ajay Kumar (South) and Ashok Verma (Civil Lines) -- as an administrative reshuffle, sources said so far no major penal action has been recommended against those DCs who played a dubious role in the entire issue. The civic body also appointed new DCs for three zones -- R.N. Mangla (Karol Bagh), S.K. Bhandari (South) and P.K. Panda (Civil Lines).

"Despite strict indictment of some of its DCs by the Delhi High Court on the issue of unauthorised constrictions and illegal shops in their zones, the MCD administration has failed to take strict penal action against them. They have already transferred at least three DCs to their parent cadre for the same reason but without recommending penal action against them, clearly indicating that here too the MCD administration was adopting pick-and-choose policy while taking action against erring officials," said a superintending engineer.

Significantly, the court had expressed serious displeasure over Ajay Kumar's role regarding slow demolition action against illegal malls on M.G. Road. Similarly, the court has taken strong exception to the roles of the then DCs of Rohini and Karol Bagh zones after reports of traders and property-owners breaking seals of properties had come in. The MCD authorities failed to act on the same.

"DC who heads a zone is equally responsible for failure to check unauthorised constructions and illegal shops in his area. But as a majority of them do not belong to the MCD and are on deputation from different cadres, the civic body administration has chosen not to take any strict action against them and has just repatriated them to their parent cadre," said a senior MCD official.

Highlighting that the civic body administration was not even making adverse remarks in their service books or recommending penal action against them despite they being found guilty of allowing unauthorised structures in their zones, the official said huge illegal malls and shopping complexes that were being razed these days had come up during their tenure and not penalising them for it clearly indicates how the MCD administration was adopting an arbitrary policy while taking penal action.

Raising question over the appointment of DCs, an executive engineer said one major reason behind corruption in building activity was granting long extensions to DCs on deputation for which bureaucracy-politicians nexus was to be blamed.

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