MahaMetro promoting staff breach of poll code: Activists

Nagpur: MahaMetro’s decision to promote 14 officers and three employees in April has been slammed by Jai Jawan Jai Kisan organization, which alleged that it was violation of model of code conduct.
The activists also flayed advancing the date of increments of other employees. MahaMetro has claimed that election code of conduct did not prohibit promotion or salary rise of government officials not connected to the election process. The agency had taken permission of Election Commission in this regard, a spokesperson said.
The manual of code of conduct, which Jai Jawan Jai Kisan cited, deals with promotion of officials connected with the elections. District collector Ashwin Mudgal said he would comment on the allegation after going through the manual.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Vijaykumar Shinde and Arun Bankar said they would lodge a complaint with Mudgal and if he did not take any action then they would approach Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). They made a strange claim that promoting MahaMetro officers had influenced the voters in general without elaborating on their allegation.
The office order in question, issued on April 1, states that inauguration of Reach I of Nagpur Metro was performed on March 7 and this achievement was made possible because of the extraordinary efforts and exemplary dedication shown by all employees of MahaMetro. Upgradation of some of the officers has been under consideration in line with the current eligibility norms being followed by the corporation and their performance since they joined the services.
Another office order issued on March 27 states that inauguration of Reach I was made possible due to dedication of employees. To honour and acknowledge these efforts, the competent authority has decided to advance the annual increment of all the employees of Nagpur Metro Rail Project (regular, contract and those on deputation). The salary of employees whose due date of increment was July 1, 2019, has been increased from March, 2019. The staffers whose salary was due for increase from January, 2020, will get more wages from September, 2019.
Jai Jawan Jai Kisan had earlier alleged that MahaMetro had leased coaches from Hyderabad Metro instead of Chennai as the former was a private agency. MahaMetro later pointed out that Chennai trains had four coaches while Nagpur’s platforms were designed for three.