‘Callousness’ to be marked in officials’ service record

Ludhiana: Acting tough against “callous” and “inefficient” officials of the building branch, the senior town planner of MC has recommended to put a note in their service register with red ink, which would reflect in their annual confidential report (ACR). This is for the first time that any such recommendation has been made. Earlier, such officials were issued chargesheets, but the process did not prove to be much effective. Now, if the ACR is marked with red ink, the employee concerned might lose increment or promotion.
Sources said the new move has been initiated to bring a sense of accountability and create fear among building branch officials so that they keep proper check on illegal buildings and check violations. A recent example of callousness was officials failing to submit records of 152 ‘illegal’ buildings to MC headquarters (building branch) despite a vigilance probe already marked in the case.
But a section of officials believed that staff crunch and other issues, including political pressure, are also important aspects which should be looked into before recommending such strong action against officials. tnn