Govt to recover Rs 27 lakh from former Darbhanga mayor, others

DARBHANGA: The urban development and housing department (UDHD) has directed the district magistrate to recover Rs27 lakh from the unseated mayor, deputy mayor and seven members of the empowered standing committee of the Darbhanga Municipal Corporation (DMC) in the ‘toilet’ scam.
The UDHD has unseated Darbhanga mayor Vaijyanti Khedia, deputy mayor Badruzma Khan and seven empowered standing committee members – Ajay Jalan, Sohan Yadav, Asha Kishore Prajapati, Shivgtullah Khan, Nusrat Alam, Vinod Mandal and Subodh Kumar – for exempting the agency entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining nine ‘pay and use’ toilets from paying Rs27 lakh.
The deputy secretary of UDHD, on December 6, issued an order to Darbhanga DM Thiyagrajan SM to recover the amount. The DM has asked municipal commissioner M K Meena to initiate the process for recovery within a fortnight.
Meena on Friday said notices for recovery have been issued to all the nine members of standing committee, including the mayor and deputy mayor, to deposit the amount within a fortnight, otherwise a certificate case would be lodged against them.
Former ward number 21 councillor Navin Sinha said the government decision is in the public interest. “This move will deter the municipal corporation from committing irregularities in future. By and large, people of this town have welcomed the decision,” Sinha said.