Considered as the breeding ground of corruption and malpractices of various sorts, the building and sanitation departments in the South Delhi Municipal Corporation are all set for a makeover.
The civic body has framed a transfer policy for engineers and supervisory staff in the sanitation department which aims at introducing greater efficiency and transparency in the two crucial departments with which people have the maximum interaction.The policy will be put up before the Standing Committee of South Delhi Corporation on Wednesday for approval and later before the House for the final consent. The North Delhi Municipal Corporation too has expressed willingness to implement a similar policy so as to keep a check on corrupt practices.
A committee was formed by the civic body to look into the matter and give its recommendations with regard to the transfer policy. The committee was headed by leader of House in SDMC, Subhash Arya with Opposition leader Farhad Suri and councillor Satender Prakash as members.As per the policy proposal, the junior engineers (JE) in the building department cannot remain posted in a locality for more than a year. Similarly, a JE has to be transferred out of the zone after two years while completion of three years would mean the junior engineer has to be transferred out of the building department. This, officials said, would keep a check on the flourishing nexus of the building mafia with the engineering department staff.
“There have been several complaints of the building department staff colluding with the local builders and thus patronizing illegal construction. The transfer policy will ensure that the engineering department staff are rotated from one wing to another,” said a senior official.
The guidelines clearly states that any person against whom an enquiry is pending or who has been punished in a vigilance case will not be posted in the building department. The policy, however, does not stipulate for assistant engineers (AE) in the building department; though they will be transferred out of a zone on completion of three years. “A clear policy is needed for the engineering and sanitation department to regulate the functioning of various wings of the engineering department at all levels and to bring more efficiency and wider experience among the staff,” the proposed policy said. Apart from the building department, the policy proposes that a junior engineer can continue for a maximum period of five years in maintenance department, two years in sanitation department and three years in the projects wing of the Corporation.
In the sanitation department, the policy states, the sanitary guides and the assistant sanitary inspectors can be posted in a ward for the maximum period of two years. However, they have to be shifted out of a particular zone in five years. Similarly, the sanitary inspectors, chief sanitary inspectors and sanitation superintendents can not continue for more than three years in a zone.
