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Even as Local Government Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu today announced a further delay in civic elections till December, arrangements have been made to give the commissioners all powers of civic bodies to restart development projects halted since the formation of the Congress government in the state. Sidhu had earlier hoped to have the elections conducted by November after the completion of delimitation of municipal wards. An order has now been passed by the Punjab Governor allowing commissioners to “exercise all powers and perform all duties of the municipal corporations” of Patiala, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar till the elections. The Congress government after taking charge had blocked the release of funds for several works as Sidhu in May insisted on having financial and social audit conducted for all corporations.
The minister, after scrutinising certain projects, had suspected “financial irregularities and sub-standard execution”. The term of the Patiala Municipal Corporation ended on September 16, Amritsar on September 18, Ludhiana September 20, and Jalandhar on September 24. Besides these four corporations, the elections will also be held for 28 municipal councils. The civic bodies this year onwards will have 50 per cent reservation for women, the Bill for which was passed in June. Addressing a press conference here, Sidhu said: “The elections were delayed because of the process of fresh delimitation of wards. Except Ludhiana, we have completed the process for all other corporations. Each ward will have 11,000-13,000 votes.” He added: “We could not have worked with the teams that were involved in scams. Now, the commissioners are being assigned specifics task in their areas. Works worth Rs 125 crore have been earmarked for Amritsar, and at least Rs 135 crore for Ludhiana. The tendering process has also been started.” However, Kamaljit Bhatia, who was senior deputy mayor in Jalandhar, said: “There was no meeting for the last six months of the term. Even for the panel doing the delimitation work, the government picked only four Congress MLAs while ignoring the only SAD MLA from the city. The issue of execution of projects after the change of government needed to be debated in the Assembly. Under the present circumstances, the corporations remained idle for seven months.” Alleging that the Congress stopped the works because it did not want the SAD-BJP corporations to take any credit, outgoing mayor Amarinder Bajaj said: “The government had stopped giving us any grants, which also affected work on basic amenities such as sewerage, sanitation and lighting.” ‘Delimitation delayed civic elections’ Local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhi has said the elections have been delayed because of the process of fresh delimitation of wards. “Except Ludhiana, we have completed the process for all corporations. Each ward will have 11,000-13,000 votes,” he said. Department yet to get GST share The Local Government Department has not received its share of taxes that it is supposed to get directly in its account, says Sidhu. "In the last financial year, at least Rs 1,200 crore was received as share in VAT. Following the introduction of GST, no money has been received. Guv order empowers Commissioners An order has been passed by the Punjab Governor allowing commissioners to “exercise all powers of the municipal corporations” of Patiala, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar till the elections.
The minister, after scrutinising certain projects, had suspected “financial irregularities and sub-standard execution”. The term of the Patiala Municipal Corporation ended on September 16, Amritsar on September 18, Ludhiana September 20, and Jalandhar on September 24. Besides these four corporations, the elections will also be held for 28 municipal councils. The civic bodies this year onwards will have 50 per cent reservation for women, the Bill for which was passed in June. Addressing a press conference here, Sidhu said: “The elections were delayed because of the process of fresh delimitation of wards. Except Ludhiana, we have completed the process for all other corporations. Each ward will have 11,000-13,000 votes.” He added: “We could not have worked with the teams that were involved in scams. Now, the commissioners are being assigned specifics task in their areas. Works worth Rs 125 crore have been earmarked for Amritsar, and at least Rs 135 crore for Ludhiana. The tendering process has also been started.” However, Kamaljit Bhatia, who was senior deputy mayor in Jalandhar, said: “There was no meeting for the last six months of the term. Even for the panel doing the delimitation work, the government picked only four Congress MLAs while ignoring the only SAD MLA from the city. The issue of execution of projects after the change of government needed to be debated in the Assembly. Under the present circumstances, the corporations remained idle for seven months.” Alleging that the Congress stopped the works because it did not want the SAD-BJP corporations to take any credit, outgoing mayor Amarinder Bajaj said: “The government had stopped giving us any grants, which also affected work on basic amenities such as sewerage, sanitation and lighting.” ‘Delimitation delayed civic elections’ Local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhi has said the elections have been delayed because of the process of fresh delimitation of wards. “Except Ludhiana, we have completed the process for all corporations. Each ward will have 11,000-13,000 votes,” he said. Department yet to get GST share The Local Government Department has not received its share of taxes that it is supposed to get directly in its account, says Sidhu. "In the last financial year, at least Rs 1,200 crore was received as share in VAT. Following the introduction of GST, no money has been received. Guv order empowers Commissioners An order has been passed by the Punjab Governor allowing commissioners to “exercise all powers of the municipal corporations” of Patiala, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar till the elections.
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