News: Chief engineer lashes out at nepotism: ‘Kin of councilors calling the shots at MCG’-10-09-2021
Gurgaon: MCG’s chief engineer Thakur Lal Sharma on Thursday spoke out against the culture of nepotism in the corporation, alleging key decisions were being taken by three outsiders – the mayor’s son Puru Azad, deputy mayor Sunita Yadav’s husband Anil Yadav, and Neeraj Yadav, husband of the deputy mayor’s namesake who is the Ward 22 councillor.
Speaking on the same day MCG employees went on a pen-down strike to protest against the suspension of superintending engineer Ramesh Sharma, the chief engineer claimed the trio has been openly bullying and humiliating officials and forcing them to clear payments of contractors. The MCG’s daily affairs, he said, have come under the influence of this nexus that the state government should take note of.
“There is an ongoing nexus of family members of the councilors, including the mayor, in influencing day-to-day affairs of the corporation. They humiliate officials in the presence of other officials and even force them to clear payments of contractors,” TL Sharma told TOI.
“We are not here to face humiliation at the hands of family members of public representatives. We are working for the corporation and residents of Gurgaon. It is demoralising for the entire engineering wing when their colleagues are abused and misbehaved with by these private individuals,” he added.
He also alleged that the three outsiders have been attending official MCG meetings and interfering in deciding estimates of the development projects. Citing a recent incident, Sharma said at a finance and contracts committee meeting, all three were present and participated in approving project estimates even though no MCG official was present.
The chief engineer claimed officials had received directions from the mayor not to visit any ward without permission from the respective councillor. “Even if there is any issue with officials, the mayor or any councillor can write to the department head concerned or the state government. But misbehaving, abusing and humiliating them is not tolerable,” Sharma said.
Ramesh Sharma, the suspended superintending engineer, said he was not at fault and the home minister had been misled by councilors. “I was, in fact, humiliated in front of other officials by the mayor's son and the councillor’s husband, due to which I left the meeting,” he claimed, referring to the September 6 incident where he was asked to explain his absence from a September 3 meeting on sewage overflow in Ward 22. Sharma had earlier said he could not attend the September 3 meeting as he had to be present at another chaired by the GMDA CEO.
Speaking on behalf of mayor Madhu Azad, her son and Puru’s brother Parush said none of his family members had attended officials’ meetings and had not interfered in MCG’s affairs. He said Sharma was suspended because he left the meeting in the presence of the mayor without giving a valid reason.
