Following a recent case of bribery in the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA), some organisational measures have been taken to minimise the scope for more such cases.
Observers remain skeptical and state that even in the past, corruption and other anomalies in the MDDA were acknowledged by many including the Chief Minister and even the vice-chairman. However, corruption and other anomalies largely continuing unresolved so far, the authority’s functioning was limited mostly to approving building maps with little focus on facilitating planned urbanisation and development works.
It will be recalled that a couple of days ago, the vigilance department had caught MDDA supervisor Ajay Kumar red-handed while accepting `1 lakh bribe from a petitioner for ensuring conclusion of a case in his favour.
Kumar had stated that he was collecting the bribe on behalf assistant engineer TP Nautiyal, who is absconding since being exposed. Reacting to the expose, the authority has attached Nautiyal with the office. In addition to this departmental action against Nautiyal, the MDDA has also directed an immediate discontinuation of the manual compounding of constructions to mitigate possibility of bribery. The authority will facilitate the compounding task through its official website.
Sources point out that meetings are being held at various levels focusing more on damage control than on effectively prevent corruption in the MDDA. This is not the first case of corruption and varied anomalies in the authority’s functioning being exposed but in this case, the damage control exercise is being exerted also in view of the Vidhan Sabha elections slated to be held next year, said a State administration official on condition of anonymity.
It will be recalled that corruption and irregularities in the authority have been exposed from time to time during the terms of successive State Governments since the State came into being. Earlier, during his tenure as the chief minister in 2012, Vijay Bahuguna had announced that urban local bodies would be authorised to pass building maps in the areas under their purview.
It was stated at the time that with the task of map approval being transferred from the authority to UlBs, the applicants would face comparatively lower extent of corruption and the MDDA would be able to focus on executing its responsibilities of facilitating planned urbanisation and developmental works. However, this decision was not executed as announced. Some measures were taken to bring about transparency and minimising scope for corruption by introducing different services through the authority’s website.