After just 5 days of taking oath as the new minister of Guwahati Development Department (GDD), Gauhati (East) MLA, Siddhartha Bhattacharya, made it amply clear to the officials of Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) that he will not tolerate any kind of corruption in the two departments.
Bhattacharya, while chairing a review meeting at GMDA on 3rd May said, “All kind of corruption has to stop and complaints need to be filed against corrupt officials.”
A source in the GMDA who attended the meeting said that the GDD minister expressed concern regarding the building permission process as, according to him permissions are being given on priority to people who bribe the officials.
Bhattacharya said in the meeting that when a building is constructed illegally the officials act against the building owner and the building is demolished. But there is never any action taken against the officials who give permissions illegally after taking bribes. He said, “I will change the system.”
It is alleged that there is a lobby in the GMDA which, with political backing, controls the entire building and planning permission process. The lobby also allegedly controls the tendering process for various projects carried out by GMDA.
A source close to the GDD minister said, “The minister will minutely study all the existing projects and the process under which the agencies were hired. If anything smells fishy, a high level enquiry will be ordered.”
After ending the review meeting at GMDA, the minister chaired another review meeting with the GMC officials at the circuit house.
The minister expressed concern regarding corruption in the GMC too during the meeting. He said that long back when he had opened a restaurant, he had faced many difficulties from GMC for securing the trade license.
The GMC collects Rs 20 from street vendors on a daily basis but the minister expressed doubts whether all the money went into the GMC’s account. GMC too provides building permissions which also allegedly goes through a corrupt process.
The minister warned the officials that anyone found taking bribes will have to face the music.
