Officers not sending water supply bills to face action: Navjot Sidhu

Saturday, 01/04/2017

http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=175382&boxid=59161&uid=&dat=2017-04-01

Jalandhar : Aimed at bringing transparency, Punjab Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday said that the local bodies department was all set to send notices to officers of municipal corporations for not sending water bills quarterly.

Sidhu said that he has directed secretary local bodies to send notices to those officers who failed to collect water bills quarterly. “It was the responsibility of the officers concerned to check that the water bills were issued well on time”, he said.

The minister said that the water bills, which should have ranged between Rs 150 to 1500 was now turning out to be a whopping amount. “The previous SAD-BJP government has stopped collecting water bills, hence burdening the residents now”, he said, adding that over 40 MLAs have brought to his notice that water bills had not been charged for the last four years.

In Jalandhar for his maiden press conference after becoming a minister, Sidhu said that there was no ‘Quality Control’ of the municipal corporations, which has rendered them as den of corruption. “To ensure accountability and transparency, we would bring a ‘Public Audit system’ for every project of the civic bodies”, he said.

Sidhu said that whenever a new project would start, our department would ensure that a board mentioning the cost of the project, name of the contractor, contact details, specifications of the work, when did the project start and its conclusion would be put up. “A notification of the work would be done by the Capt government, as we have come to power against corruption”, he said.

The local bodies minister maintained that the government’s vision was targeted at not just five years of tenure but for the coming 50 years. Sidhu said that it was decided by the Punjab Government to formulate a uniform policy for all Municipal corporations pertaining to taxation, water supply, bills and daily services.

Replying to a query about the solid waste management projects, Sidhu said that a six member committee has been formed comprising Principal Secretary Local Bodies, Secretary Urban Development, Secretary Rural Development, concerned Municipal Corporation Commissioner and a technical expert. “The committee would submit its report in three months. I have directed the officers to search atleast 50 acres of land for this project”, he said.