Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 9

Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has appointed Commodore Sudip Malik (retd) as the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) of the Local Bodies Department.Sidhu said, “In the wake of a failed system of keeping a check on the execution of our projects, we decided to have an outsider with established credibility for audit of our job and also to keep a check. Commodore Malik has more than 20 years of service in the Indian Navy.”Having served in Larsen and Toubro (L&T), a multinational conglomerate, for more than a decade after retirement, Commodore Malik is seen as the right person to fit the bill of scrutinising the ongoing municipal projects.The CVO’s post fell vacant on April 19 after Sidhu removed Anil Kumar Kansal. He was accused of taking bribe in lieu of favouring certain officials in Vigilance reports. He was also accused of giving a clean chit to many under scrutiny in the Local Bodies Department.After Kansal was removed, Superintending Engineer (SE) Mukul Soni’s name was doing the rounds for the post. It was so because Sidhu had sent him to Bathinda to inquire into a scam in the Improvement Trust. Officially, he went to Bathinda not as an officiating CVO.An officer said Vigilance inquiries in the department had not yielded substantial findings for the past several years in spite of charges of corruption at several places across the state.

14 secretaries demoted

Chandigarh: The Local Government Department on Tuesday cancelled the promotion of 14 secretaries, reversing the decision taken by the then Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi. Superintendents were promoted as secretaries after the announcement of the Assembly elections, sources said. An official said, “The promotion under question had come into effect just before the elections. On verification following a complaint, the promotion was found to be violating the model code of conduct.” TNS