Municipal chief suspends PRO

AURANGABAD: Aurangabad municipal commissioner Nipun Vinayak suspended Tauseef Ahmed, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the local civic body, on Tuesday for his lax attitude during the latest tax recovery drive.
Tauseef, who was one of the special recovery officers appointed by the civic administration, was suspended for alleged dereliction of duty during the weeklong drive, senior civic official said.
Tauseef is the second official whose head has rolled in connection with the recovery drive, in a span of around a week. Earlier on November 13, the civic chief had sacked Sanjay Jakkal, another special recovery officer, for poor tax recovery.
The civic administration and elected representatives, including the Mayor, have set a target of recovering Rs450 crore towards property tax during the current fiscal. The recent drive, which ended on Monday, netted nearly Rs8.95 crore towards property tax for the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). The total collection, considering recovery of dues towards property tax, was Rs10.05 crore, as against the Rs60 crore that had been targeted by the AMC. “The latest recovery drive was important and therefore, the entire civic staff was expected to remain on their toes. Those who failed to comply with the order despite repeated instructions faced stern action in the form of suspension,” a senior civic official said.
Nipun, in the past few months, had suspended two other senior civic officials, taking the total number of heads that have rolled so far to four. Deputy municipal commissioner Ravindra Nikam faced action for his inaction against encroachment, while local zoo director B S Naikawde also faced suspension for negligence of his duties.
The stern action against errant civic officials has been welcomed by citizens. Gopal Kulkarni, a senior citizen, said the functioning of the AMC will improve only if stern measures are taken. “More heads need to roll if the AMC is to shed its poor image among the public,” he said.