GHMC officer suspended for ‘Praja Palana’ neglect

Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Commissioner Ronald Rose on Tuesday suspended the officer who was responsible for supervising transport of ‘Praja Palana’ forms in Circle-3 Hayatnagar. He was suspended for negligence for mismanagement of the five guarantee scheme applications.

The GHMC Commissioner ordered suspension of superintendent, tax section, circle 3 M Mahender for negligence in performing duties assigned. It was after the applications were found on road during transport by the data entry agency.

The suspension order with immediate effect was issued under sub-rule (1) of Rule 8 of Telangana Civil Services (CC&A) Rules, 1991. The order stated that the officer exhibited negligence and failed to supervise transport of forms. He will remain suspended until conclusion of disciplinary proceedings and shall not leave the headquarters without permission.

In the viral video it was found the applications fell out of a carton box reportedly being transported by the agency staff on a two-wheeler and scattered on road in the Balanagar flyover. The person claimed there are about 500 filled-in applications pertaining to the Hayathnagar area. He claimed someone booked the consignment through a bike taxi and he was only delivering it. In the video people are seen raising concerns over the applications and data security. The private employee was heard saying he was coming from the ECIL area.

Another viral video circulating on social media reportedly shows the Praja Palana forms being taken by students home for data entry. Earlier, a photograph on social media also went viral showing the applications kept in a café. Meanwhile, the police have cautioned people against callers asking them to share OTP so that benefits of government schemes can be soon made available to them. They advised not to fall for such scams and clarified that no official will call anyone to share OTP.