Commissioner busy trimming staff in his office

Sources in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike said he was reviewing the deputation list since the matter was raised in the Palike council.

It was alleged in the council that many officials on deputation to the Palike from other government departments were reluctant to leave as the “income” was good here.

Siddaiah said many officials were surplus and their services were no longer required by the Palike.

“There are officials who receive four to eight files in a month and we do not need separate officials to handle them,” he said.

According to the Karnataka Municipal Act 1976, any official on deputation to the Palike can serve for a maximum of three years but councillors claimed that many officials were using their influence to stay for a longer period. The commissioner said there was excess manpower in the departments of engineering, horticulture, forest and town planning, among others and added that there were 12 assistant directors in the Town Planning department.

The extra officials will be sent back to their parent departments, he said, adding that this was one of the main reasons why the online system was being brought in.

Siddaiah had directed all palike files to be put online by October 1.

He said there would be training programmes and awareness programmes for the public and other agencies to tell them how to benefit from the online system.

The commissioner also said 3,925 works, worth Rs 2,265 crore, were being audited and investigated by the Technical and Vigilance Coordination Cell. It was reported that 86 engineers were asked to submit details of projects undertaken as there was no evidence that the works were executed properly or that they were at all carried out.