Engineers’ body seeks transfer of Ludhiana DC

Ludhiana: The Council of Engineers (COE) has written to the Punjab chief secretary demanding the transfer of Ludhiana deputy commissioner Pradeep Kumar Agrawal.
According to the association, the DC has failed in performing his duties by keeping mum and not taking action against illegal activities being carried out in various government departments. They alleged that the DC has also not paid any heed to the issue of parking contractors fleecing commuters on a daily basis.
COE president Kapil Arora said, “Despite receiving numerous complaints from residents and issues being highlighted in leading newspapers, no action has been initiated by the deputy commissioner.His inactivity and silence on all issues has resulted in revenue loss to state as well as the Centre. One of the major problems is loot by parking contractors at Feroze Gandhi Market, Mall Road, Bhadaur House and multi-storey parking at DC office.”
The DC has also failed in forming a consumer protection forum, fixing collector rates at realistic value and curb fraudulent activities being carried out by corrupt revenue officials. In addition, he is silent on faulty construction of Samrala Chowk Flyover bridge, Arora said.
COE members believe that being the administrative head of the district as well as representative of the Central government, it is his lawful duty to keep a tab on all departmental activities and if people are facing problems due to them, he should penalise such officials.
However, the DC’s working seems to be an eyewash as the unlawful activities continue to take place under his nose, they held.
“The residents and media are regularly bringing such issues to the fore, but the DC has initiated no action so far. It is our request that Pradeep Kumar Agrawal is transferred from Ludhiana while the concerned departments be directed to duly perform their duties to resolve the issues being faced by residents and commuters. A high-level committee should be formed to conduct a probe into the revenue department activities,” said Arora.
Meanwhile, when contacted on the issue, Pradeep Agrawal did not respond to the calls.