Tuesday, 22 March 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
The leader of opposition in the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) and Congress councillor, Bijendra Pal Singh has sought information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act to get the details about the criteria based on which, officials allegedly registered a government land plot as private property and removed three outsourced operators who worked in the corporation’s tax section for their alleged involvement in the encroachment of that land in Old Dalanwala. Singh said that an issue of encroachment on one of the MCD’s land worth about Rs 40 to 50 crore in Old Dalanwala came to light when some councillors, most of whom belong to BJP, started a protest in the MCD premises. They have alleged that despite being MCD’s land, people belonging to the land mafia have deposited its residential property tax in the corporation. According to the councillors, the registration of such properties in the corporation gives culprits a chance to claim them as their properties in court. Singh said that the councillors claimed to the senior officials that submission of property tax of a government land cannot be done without the involvement of officials. Subsequently, the MCD claimed to have conducted an inquiry based on which they sacked three women outsourced operators who worked in the tax section, added Singh. “Even for the registration of the smallest piece of the land or any property, the corporation demands the presentation of various documents. It is questionable how the tax section registered land worth about Rs 40 crore without a proper verification and background check. It is also questionable how three operators can register a government land in the MCD’s records as private without being noticed by any senior officer,” asserted Singh. He said that he has sought details from MCD under the RTI act to know on what basis the corporation registered the land and subsequently removed the operators from their position for their alleged involvement. He said, “I will also raise this issue in the board meeting among all the councillors, mayor and municipal commissioner. People who are actually behind such deeds should be punished and innocent people should get justice. I will talk about the issue to the senior officials after I get the required information under RTI.”
