Indian Express 08.12.2010
With octroi abolished, posts to serve as beggar shelters
Raakhi Jagga Tags : Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, MC Commissioner A K Sinha Posted: Wed Dec 08 2010, 01:33 hrs
In order to provide shelter to beggars during night hours in winter, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (MC) has decided to give them shelter in vacant octroi post cabins till they can build a shelter house for them.
Confirming this, MC Commissioner A K Sinha said, “The government has asked us to ensure shelter for beggars in night hours because many of them sleep on roadsides in cold weather. So for the time being, we have decided to house them in the vacant octroi post cabins built in various locations of the city. Because ever since octroi was abolished, these cabins have been lying useless.”
However, this idea has not gone well with the shopkeepers of Gill Goad, who protested today against the proposal. Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha market on Gill Road, Dashmesh market, Industrial Area-B market and few other market associations carried out a dharna outside the Gill Road octroi office.
Gill Road Market Association President Jatinderpal Singh Saluja said, “The city should be made free from beggars and now they will be given shelter in the shed of the octroi office on Gill Road and various other locations in the city. This is really bad. Many criminals may also stay along with these beggars whom the police may not be able to check . The associations have asked the Chief Minister and Deputy CM not to allow the MC authorities to convert the octroi posts into shelter houses.
