HARYANA MINISTER SUSPENDS GOVT OFFICIAL OVER UNRECOVERED DUES

Haryana’s urban local bodies minister Subhash Sudha on Thursday suspended an official of National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM), Panchkula, for failing to recover dues from a private company hired to run street vending zones in Panchkula.

The minister, who was in the city to review development works being carried out by municipal corporation (MC), also ordered registration of a criminal case against the private company if it fails to deposit the outstanding dues of ₹35.57 lakh with MC.

The suspension of the official, Rajinder Punia, came after MC joint commissioner Simranjit Kaur presented a report before the minister, pointing out that a private company Leo Media, which has been entrusted with running the street vending zones in the city, has to pay ₹35.57 lakh to MC.

The report detailed that the company had collected money from vendors, but did not deposit it with MC as per agreement.

On this, Sudha sought an answer from Punia, who was tasked with recovering the dues. But he could not give any satisfactory answer, following which the minister suspended him with immediate effect and ordered recovery of dues from the company.

Confirming the development, Haryana assembly speaker and Panchkula MLA Gian Chand Gupta said, “The minister has also issued orders to register a police case against the company managers and employees if they fail to deposit the dues with MC.”

“The MC report has pointed out that the company failed to meet all terms and conditions of the contract that included providing uniform and water to vendors. Apart from this, some vendors are sitting there illegally,” said Gupta.

Penalises contractor for delay in road work

Meanwhile, the minister also inspected the ongoing road work in Industrial Area, Phase 1 and Phase 2, Panchkula on Thursday. The road work was started around three months back, with completion expected by July. But it is still far from complete, posing inconvenience to commuters.

The minister issued directions to get the work completed in 15 days and also issued instructions to impose penalty of 20% on the contractor for failing to complete the work on time.

Read more news like this on HindustanTimes.com

2024-07-05T04:14:15Z dg43tfdfdgfd