Ward delimitation nearly complete, MC polls will be held on time: Local bodies minister

Ludhiana: The MC elections will take place by the end of this year for which the ward delimitation process is expected to be completed soon, Punjab local bodies minister Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar said during his visit to the city on Friday.
The minister also warned the officials of Ludhiana municipal corporation as well as Ludhiana Improvement Trust to perform their duty well, and those harassing the public will have to face action. He said the vigilance bureau is catching hold of such corrupt employees/officials and action will be taken against them soon.
Dr Nijjar said, “Since the MC elections are due by the end of this year, the ward delimitation process in major cities is almost near completion. The elections will take place on time.” Asked about scarcity of funds with the civic body for development works and payment of salaries to employees, he said, “I am planning something to make urban local bodies self-sustaining so that development works don’t suffer.”
Asked about the issue of corruption in MC and LIT, he said, “The corruption at any level will not be tolerated and those who indulge in corrupt practices will not be spared in Ludhiana or any other city.” Regarding major reshuffling of officials in MC and LIT, he said, “It is better to change the officers from one city to another as they remain on toes.” Asked about its impact over basic services in the city, he said, “Though it is not a very tough task for the officials to understand the working, transfer orders can be reviewed in case there is any issue in managing the sitaution in particular area.”
On being asked about the issue of illegal colonies, the minister said, “The government is going to bring some policy over illegal colonies very soon.” He said they will not let poor people suffer, but illegal colonies will not be allowed anymore.
MC staff end hunger strike after minister’s assurance
Local bodies minister Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar reached MC zone A office near Mata Rani Chowk where he announced that process to regularise the contractual sanitation employees has been started and it would take almost a month to complete the same. He said for the past few days, discussions had been going on over the issue. When he met the members of sangharsh committee, he decided to come to Ludhiana and announce the good news. He gave juice to five members of sewerman safai karamchari sangharsh committee to end the fast. The protest was going on since May 31 and hunger strike ended on the ninth day.
BJP team meets Nijjar
A delegation of BJP leaders from the district met local bodies minister Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar on Friday during his first visit to the city. The leaders raised the issue of corruption and several irregularities in MC. The leaders also handed over 14-point memorandum to the minister. In the memorandum, they took up issues of poor garbage collection and lifting, saying that MC authorities had terminated the contract with the previous company that was handling the work and now they have failed to hire any agency to handle this task. They also raised the issue of city buses which are lying in a dilapidated condition. The BJP leaders claimed that LED street lights project too faces a dark future as “corrupt” MC officials have been targeting the firm handling the project.