Bidar zilla panchayat today passed a resolution asking the State government to transfer Chief Executive Officer Pavan Kumar Malpati, saying pace of development works were slow in the district.
Bharatbai Mallinath Sherikar, president, read out a resolution and announced the names of members who she said were supporting it. When the meeting began, only 10 of the 34 members had signed the resolution. But a copy of the resolution issued to newspaper offices contained the signatures of 28 ZP members and three of the five Taluk Panchayat presidents, who are de facto members of the district urban local body. The resolution was approved in less than a minute. All the members waked out of the ZP immediately.
Later, Ms. Sherikar issued copies of a letter written to the government in which she demanded that Mr. Malpati be relived immediately. She also said project director Ramakrishna should be given the charge of CEO. She vowed not to convene ZP general body meetings till these changes were made.
Ms. Sherikar and Prakash Patil, vice-president, met other members in the Habsikot guest house before the ZP meeting began. Members of all parties complained against the officer and sought a change.
'Delaying works'
Ms. Sherikar told presspersons that Mr. Malpati was delaying works citing reasons like ‘due procedure’ and ‘government guidelines’. She and Mr. Patil alleged that he was disrespectful and did not obey ZP members. They alleged that the CEO had transferred or deputed officers in violation of government guidelines and that he had forwarded some project proposals to the government without seeking approval in the ZP general body.
ZP officers, however, denied these allegations. “No project work has been delayed by the officers. It is the members who delayed approval of the list of works in their constituency. They were elected in February and the first meeting was held in May. The members were supposed to submit their proposals by July 15, but they did so by September 22. The ZP approved the works by October 22. All works are in progress now,” a senior officer said. He pointed out that all works approved in the last year were completed.
“We cannot approve any work that the members submit. We have to follow guidelines and procedure established by the State government,’’ an officer who handles projects, said. Mr. Malpati is a rule abiding officer and accusing him of delay due to procedure or other reasons is not justified, he said. “No project proposal was sent to the government without the prior approval of the body. Appointment or deputation of officers is the responsibility of the Deputy Commissioner and not ZP CEO. We are supposed to follow rules and do our job,” said another officer.
Senior ZP officers expressed solidarity with the CEO and urged the government to protect good officers. A senior officer said a letter signed by all officials pledging support to the CEO would be sent to the government.
