The Hindu : NDMC in limelight for the wrong reasons

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 28, 2003

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Other States - New Delhi

NDMC in limelight for the wrong reasons

By Sandeep Joshi

NEW DELHI MAY 27. Question marks have been raised over the commitment of senior New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) officials to weeding out corruption from the civic body what with several employees charged with corrupt dealings having gone scot-free. What is more surprising is that some of the suspended employees even have access to NDMC's various departments.

With the arrest of its former Chairman, Subhash Sharma, by the Central Bureau of Investigation just a few weeks ago and investigations into his corrupt dealing in the Council besides the unceremonious shifting of his successor, P.M. Singh, from the civic body the NDMC finds itself in the limelight for all the wrong reasons.

Notably, the CBI officials had taken in their possession around a dozen files related to dubious dealings of Subhash Sharma against whom the investigating agency had conducted raids when he was Delhi Development Authority's all-powerful Vice- Chairman.

Sources now say these files were also related to corrupt dealings of some of the NDMC officials. It is alleged that Subhash Sharma, supported by his "cohorts'' in the NDMC, had misused his powers and favoured people in various dealings like allotments of land and buildings to waive off or reduce arrears worth crores which the NDMC had to be recovered from certain "high-profile'' defaulters and regularisation of illegal constructions.

But even after this nothing has changed in the NDMC as all this has failed to deter tainted employees to "operate'' in the civic body with ease. It is alleged that despite the fact that an inquiry is going on against them, they have easy access to the files related to them and departments.

For instance, a chief assistant deployed in the Estate Department was caught by the CBI sometime back and suspended, and cases were filed against him in the special court. But this tainted official has been regularly visiting the Council headquarters -- Palika Kendra -- without any hindrance. Sources said he even had access to files related to his corrupt dealings which were now in possession with a director-level officer which was in the knowledge of the Council's Vigilance Department.

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