HMC locks horns with govt

HOWRAH: The West Bengal government and the Howrah Municipal Corporation have locked horns over the recruitment of 235 group-D employees.
The state municipal affairs department claimed that these recruitments were illegal, which the HMC has denied.
"Casual employees have been regularised as per requirement. There is no question of their retrenchment," said Howrah mayor Gopal Mukherjee.
On the other hand, state municipal affairs secretary Dipankar Mukhopadhyay, said, "The HMC has not only recruited them illegally, but it has also not answered our letters in this regard as of now."
The state government has stopped their salaries and other dues.Even the special grants given by the state finance commission to municipalities for their performance has been stopped, he added.
The exercise has also sparked a row in the corporation. Leader of the Opposition Samar Singh has alleged that the corporation is cash-strapped and development work in Howrah had already come to a halt owing to financial crunch.
"How did the mayor regularise them flouting the state government norm?"he said.
Singh claimed that there was a conspiracy to gain political mileage as all the employees were CPM cadres. "The decision to regularise them was politically motivated," he said.
The state municipal affairs department, in a directive to 125 urban local bodies had said that any recruitment after December 31, 1991, would be treated as illegal.
According to sources, 2,816 persons were recruited even after the directive. Two years ago, an explanation was sought from the civic authorities.