GUJRAT, Jan 9: The district council has empowered Nazims of the union councils to collect shops licence fee.
A council meeting on Wednesday also cancelled the contract awarded to a contractor and passed a resolution against EDO (Revenue) Chaudhry Saadat Ali, demanding an inquiry into his corruption.
Speaking on the occasion, Nazim Chaudhry Qamar Zaman Kiara alleged that the EDO had allotted the fee collection contract without any justification, to his favourite contractor Naeemur Rahman against Rs7 million which was of more than Rs20 million.
Later, the EDO informed the Nazims that it was a district tax and they should coordinate with the contractor for the collection of the levy, Mr Kiara alleged. According to him, under the Local Government Ordinance 2001, zila, tehsil or union councils could collect this tax.
Through a resolution, Mr Kiara demanded cancellation of the contract. He demanded that union council Nazims should be empowered to collect the fee. He also sought strict disciplinary action against the EDO.
The meeting unanimously passed the resolution. Convener Syed Noorul Hassan Shah ordered cancellation of the contract and directed the contractor to reimburse the money which he collected from the shopkeepers.
Meanwhile, legal experts say that the ordinance empowers the zila or tehsil council to asses or impose a tax and collect it through auction. The ordinance does not authorize any local body member to collect any tax,” they say.
When contacted, EDO Chaudhry Saadat said that local army monitoring teams had constituted an auction committee with the collaboration of the District Nazim and the DCO. The committee had allotted the contract to Naeem according to rules and regulations. Terming the allegations levelled by Mr Kiara as baseless, he said that last year the revenue department allotted the contract against Rs2.8 million.
STRIKE: The tehsil municipal administration employees union on Wednesday observed strike against the harassment of the staff by a former MNA and an opposition leader of the Gujrat Tehsil Council.
According to a union press release, former MNA Mian Mushtaq Husain Pagganwala along with opposition leader Ghulam Abbas Malhi visited the municipal office on Tuesday and abused the entire staff of the office without any reason.
The release said that Mr Malhi also termed all the employees as corrupt in the presence of Ibrar Ahmad, Arshad Shah and Allah Ditta.
The employees union at an emergent meeting presided over by its president Chaudhry Irshad Ahmad Warraich decided on Tuesday to observe a complete strike on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, sources told this correspondent that Mr Malhi was angry over the publication of a statement in some newspapers which he gave against the Tehsil Nazim and municipal administration some days ago.