BMC chief issues circular warning officials of 50% salary cut if projects delayed, activists welcome move

Mumbai: In a bid to ensure timely completion of civic works, Brihamnumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) chief Praveen Pardeshi has recently issued a circular asking the officials to get the projects done in time or else be prepared to lose 50 percent of their salary. [caption id=“attachment_3965529” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of BMC building. Wikipedia[/caption] Apart from the officials, the circular also warned civic contractors that if they failed to meet the deadline, they would also lose 20 percent of the project cost. “Pardeshi issued the circular last week, in which he asked the municipal officials engaged in supervising projects to get the works done within the deadline or else they will lose their salary by 50 percent,” a senior civic official said on Thursday. “The contractors have also been warned that they would lose 20 percent of the project cost if they fail to meet the deadline. The circular said the reasons cited by the officers and contractors for not meeting the project deadlines are unconvincing and very frivolous,” he added. The circular issued by the civic chief would work as a deterrent and motivate the officials, especially the engineers to complete the projects within the deadlines, he said. The move has been welcomed by activists, who said it would benefit everyone and help fix the responsibility. RTI activist Anil Galgali, who has exposed several cases related to alleged corruption in the cash-rich BMC, said, “The civic body spends over Rs 10,000 crore every year on public works, but it has hardly met the deadline of any project.” “On the contrary, the projects are deliberately delayed to escalate its cost. This happens due to unholy nexus between engineers and contractors. Hope this initiative to cut salary would work and break the nexus,” he said.