Chandigarh Tribune: Ludhiana: Monday,
September 12, 2016.
The Ludhiana
Improvement Trust (LIT) has been rapped on the knuckles by the Aaudit
Department for its failure to recover rent, payment towards electricity bills
and user charges from Canal Lining Division (under the Irrigation Department,
Punjab) while the arrears have mounted to more than Rs 1.63 crore. The tenant
department, who occupies part of the second floor of the Trust building, has
failed to respond to recovery and eviction notices.
A copy of the
audit report of the LIT for 2014-15, obtained under the Right to Information
Act by Rohit Sabharwal and Arvind Sharma, president and secretary,
respectively, of the Council of RTI Activists, revealed that the Canal Lining
Division had defaulted on payment of monthly rent since financial year 1998-99
and as per demand and recovery register maintained in the LIT office, the
arrears of rent till end of March 2015 stood at Rs 1,27,089. The outstanding
amount towards electricity bills, water and sewerage charges was a little more
that Rs 1.62 crore during the same period.
Pointing out
the gross negligence on the part of LIT authorities, the auditors noted that
the tenant department had not been paying the monthly rent (Rs 3,850) since
1998-99 while no payment had been made towards electricity bills and user charges
(water and sewerage) ever since the part of building was rented out in 1980.
The auditors recalled that this financial irregularity (failure to recover rent
and user charges) had repeatedly been pointed out in the successive audit
reports from 2004-05.
While
directing the LIT authorities to make efforts for recovery of outstanding
amount from the defaulting tenant, the audit wing has also sent a note to the
Director, Local Government, Punjab, to take necessary action for recovery of
the outstanding amount and eviction of the tenant from the Trust building.
The Council
of RTI Activists has also urged the local government department to take up the
matter with the Irrigation Department at the appropriate level for the recovery
of outstanding amount and immediate vacation of the premises, which the
defaulting tenant was occupying.
On their
part, the LIT authorities have provided copies of letters written to the tenant
department for the payment of outstanding rent as well as dues against
electricity bills, water and sewerage charges while claiming that the Canal
Lining Division had not responded to the demand notices and even the final
notice for the recovery of dues and vacation of the premises had not evoked any
response.
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