Local Bodies vigilance team raids MC office

  • | Friday | 23rd August, 2019

Scrutinises civic body records of cow cess; checks documents at Harraipur gaushalaSameer SinghTribune News ServiceBathinda, August 22Officials of the vigilance wing of the Local Bodies Department from the Chandigarh head office on Thursday raided the Municipal Corporation of Bathinda office here. After the vigilance wing team consisting of Harbaksh Singh, Chief Vigilance Officer, and Mahinderpal Singh, CVO, and Manpreet Singh, VO, reached the MC office, officials of the corporation remained on tenterhooks. The checking officials were seen entering one room after the other at the MCB office while scrutinising documents and files related to cow cess. A senior MC official said the team checked records related to cow cess, its receipts and payments. A senior MC official said the team checked records related to cow cess, its receipts and payments.

Scrutinises civic body records of cow cess; checks documents at Harraipur gaushala Sameer Singh Bathinda, August 22 Officials of the vigilance wing of the Local Bodies Department from the Chandigarh head office on Thursday raided the Municipal Corporation of Bathinda office here. The sleuths said they had conducted checking of cow cess on the government orders, but sources in the corporation said the raid was conducted after a complaint was made in this regard. After the vigilance wing team consisting of Harbaksh Singh, Chief Vigilance Officer, and Mahinderpal Singh, CVO, and Manpreet Singh, VO, reached the MC office, officials of the corporation remained on tenterhooks. The checking officials were seen entering one room after the other at the MCB office while scrutinising documents and files related to cow cess. Ruling out any possibility of acting on a complaint, CVO Harbaksh Singh said, “We are conducting a routine checking on orders received from the state government.” However, the officials chose to remain tight-lipped when they were asked if they had spotted any glaring irregularities with regard to cow cess in the MCB. A senior MC official said the team checked records related to cow cess, its receipts and payments. Notably, the MCB collected crores of rupees as cow cess every year. The team members checked the records pertaining to collections and utilisation of the cess. The MC authorities had failed to tackle the stray cattle problem as the number of accidents due to the presence of stray cattle on roads was rising by the day. Residents of the city have been suffering due to the failure of the MCB to make arrangements to solve the stray cattle issue. Despite the fact that the people are paying cow cess on everything like car, two-wheelers, electricity bill, marriage palaces, cement bag, liquor, etc, there has been no let-up in the number of road accidents happening due to stray cattle. Later, the checking officials, accompanied by MCB officials, visited the gaushala at Harraipur village in Goniana block. Baljit Singh, manager of the gaushala, said, “The officials scrutinised all the records, right from medicine availability to green fodder to feed and other facilities for animals at the gaushala. They checked the total count and tagging of animals kept inside the gaushala.” They found no proper measures were being taken at the gaushala with regard to lifting dead animals. Recently, carcasses of eight dead animals remained inside the gaushala for over five days before being buried in a nearby area. The decomposed bodies of animals not only emitted a foul smell but also posed a threat of the spread of diseases in other animals kept inside the gaushala. A staff member from the gaushala said there were no proper arrangements available to lift the carcasses of dead animals. The Harraipur gaushala, that is spread over 14.5 acres, had reportedly received a grant of Rs 88 lakh in seven instalments, but despite that more than 1,000 cattle died here in the past few years and a city-based NGO had sought a probe into the death of the cattle. Routine checking: CVO Ruling out any possibility of acting on a complaint, CVO Harbaksh Singh said they were conducting a routine checking on orders received from the state government. However, the officials chose to remain tight-lipped when they were asked if they had spotted any glaring irregularities with regard to cow cess in the MCB. A senior MC official said the team checked records related to cow cess, its receipts and payments.

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