Hyderabad, Trinet News, September 10: While officials are struggling to clear pending bills for employee and worker salaries, retired pensions, development, and maintenance works, there are strong allegations that unnecessary expenditures are going unchecked. The allocation of crores of rupees to set up corporate-style chambers for officials arriving on deputation to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has sparked widespread criticism.
According to reliable sources, an engineer who has been entrenched in the building maintenance department for decades frequently prepares renovation proposals, and top officials are blindly approving them despite the ongoing financial crisis. It is learned that the renovation works are being executed by the said engineer's benamis. Through this, approximately Rs 10 crore is reportedly being spent annually in the name of renovations. Some officials are questioning whether this financial burden is necessary during a severe financial crunch.
Allegations are mounting that the engineer, who continuously manages to get renovation works sanctioned at various locations within the head office year-round, has amassed crores of rupees illegally. For various department heads and additional commissioners serving on deputation for a minimum of three years and a maximum of four years, crores are being spent to renovate chambers according to the officers' preferences.
Recently, officials renovated the chambers of two additional commissioners on the 3rd floor, and now the Financial Advisor's chamber on the 2nd floor is also being given a corporate makeover costing crores. In some cases, as the chamber renovations approach completion, vaastu sentiments of the officials necessitate additional works. While the Financial Advisor's chamber is rarely visited by top officials or visitors—except contractors for bills—the chambers of the Chief Medical Officer, Additional Commissioner (Sanitation), and the Superintendent Engineers of the Maintenance and Projects wings on the 6th floor have lacked basic amenities for decades.
While the Chief Engineer's office on the 5th floor has a corporate look, none of the engineering department chambers on the 6th floor have been renovated so far, retaining their old appearance. Adding to this, even though no labor union currently holds valid recognition at the GHMC head office, officials have been promptly approving union office renovations upon request, which has become a topic of discussion.
Questions are also being raised about the underlying motives behind officials blindly approving every proposal drafted by the engineer, especially given past incidents like the SC/ST Employees Association renovation, where substandard work resulted in rainwater leakage within months of completion.
Interestingly, the newly renovated chambers on the 3rd, 4th, and 2nd floors have brought little luck to the cadre and non-cadre officers who previously used them. Anurag Jayanti's chamber was on the 4th floor; as soon as it was renovated to corporate standards, he was transferred out of GHMC. Similarly, Additional Commissioner (Finance) Geetharadhika's chamber on the 3rd floor was renovated, and she was immediately transferred to another division, with the department sometimes left vacant for days. Srujana, who used the 3rd-floor additional commissioner chamber before the bifurcation of GHMC, also worked there only for a short period before being appointed as Cyberabad Commissioner starting February 11.
Not sparing even the scrap?
Constant chamber renovations generate large amounts of scrap, including expensive furniture, computers, and other materials. According to rules, this scrap must be disposed of through a tender process. However, allegations are rife that maintenance department officials have been moving the scrap over the past few days without conducting any tenders. When a maintenance department engineer was questioned about the scrap removal, he claimed that everything was done according to the rules and that a tender process was conducted. However, he failed to produce any documents or paperwork to substantiate the claim. Notably, for nearly a month, the engineer has been evading answers by repeating that everything is proceeding according to the rules.
