Assn seeks probe against Rural Development Director
Wednesday, 05/09/2012
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120905/punjab.htm#18
Mohali : Members of the Rural Development Officers’ Association (RDOA) have decided not to join their duties till the Director of the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats, Punjab, is transferred out of his present place of posting.
“We will not join our duties till transfer of our director Balwinder Singh Multani from the department. We will also sit on a dharna on the office premises from tomorrow,” said Pardeep Singh Kaleka, RDOA president, and Mohali’s Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC).
The RDOA has also demanded an inquiry against Multani for allegedly giving benefits to private parties instead of village panchayats in cases of ‘shamlaat’ lands of various villages across the state.
Kaleka said the decisions were taken in a meeting held in Ludhiana today. The meeting was attended by all Deputy Directors, ADCs (Development), District Development Panchayat Officers (DDPOs) and Block Development Panchayat Officers (BDPOs),” said Kaleka.
It was unanimously decided that no field officer would join his duty till their demands were accepted, added Kaleka.
On the other hand, Multani alleged that the officials on protest were levelling false allegations against him. “They (the officials) are giving distorted facts just to tarnish my image. In fact, several officers have been facing departmental action due to one or the other reason. As many as 100 BDPOs, 81 secretaries/gram sewaks, 16 DPDOs and three Deputy Directors have been issued chargesheets so far. The ‘strictness’ might have led them to protest,” said Multani at his office in Vikas Bhawan, Phase 8, here today.
Multani said he had decided as many as 688 cases of shamlaat land in a year. “In so many cases, only 13 cases were those in which decisions were given that land did not vest with panchayats of respective villages while there were only six cases of disowning under Section 7 of Punjab Village Common Land Act 1961,” claimed Multani.
Multani said he was planning to sue the protesting officials for tarnishing his image by levelling false allegations.
