Technical and social audit of big municipal corporations to begin within fortnight: Sidhu

Ludhiana, May 27, 2017: Minister for Local Government Punjab Navjot Singh Sidhu has said technical and social audit of big municipal corporations of the state is being started from next 15 days onwards. For this purpose, proposal from the country's four best audit companies have been sought so that irregularities of all kinds occurred in the past be brought to the light.
Sidhu had specially visited to physically examine the ongoing work of cleanliness of sewerage on Rahon road and Books Market. Interacting with the media persons on the occasion, he accused that the predecessor SAD-BJP combine government did several irregularities which was evident from the fact that there was acute mismatch between income and expenditure in the accounts of Department of Local Government Punjab during past ten years. As a result, all the 166 municipal corporations and municipal councils were under debt.
Adding, Sidhu told that under the prevailing circumstances it was necessary to got conduct technical and social audit of all the municipal corporations and municipal councils across the states. He said proposals had been asked for conducted audit from the best companies from the country. He told that the work of conducting audit of big municipal corporations, including Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Bathinda and Patiala would be started in the next 15 days followed by the audit of remaining municipal corporations and municipal councils.
On being asked about tax collection, he told that the work of tax collection would be made online after the coming elections to municipal corporations and municipal councils. He said the Union government had been asking the state government to implement e-governance in the state for the last ten years but the predecessor state government did not pay any heed to this direction of the Centre. Now, the work of inviting tenders for this purpose would be started in the next 15 days, he said.
He told that it was a misfortune of people the state that there were a total 64 sewerage treatment plants (STPs) in Punjab out of which only three STPs were working. He said the setting-up of an STP cost around Rs.7-8 crore, adding that the predecessor state government had ruined public money worth rupees crores of rupees. He added that these STPs would now be started after extending technology in the future and the treated water would be used for irrigating purpose.
The minister further told that efforts were on by Local Government Department to generate power from garbage being generated in the urban areas. He said this practice would be started on the Delhi-pattern and talks were on with some big companies in this regard. The power would be generated directly without segregating garbage, he said.
Sidhu told that tenders would be invited for carrying out work of cleanliness in the cities of Patiala, Mohali and Bathinda. He said tenders that had already been invited for the cities such as Ludhiana and the companies concerned were not showing good results, its work would be reviewed and further plan of action would be chalked out. He said the work of work of lifting of garbage at the doorsteps in the municipal corporation areas of Ludhiana and Pathankot would be started from June 5 onwards.