Row in CHB: Fresh trouble for CEO Deepak Kumar - Hindustan Times
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Row in CHB: Fresh trouble for CEO Deepak Kumar

Hindustan Times | By, Chandigarh
Jul 14, 2016 01:33 PM IST

The Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) governing body has come down heavily on its chief executive officer (CEO), SB Deepak Kumar, for not disposing of “tatkal” files within the specified time and not returning a mobile phone worth Rs 50,000 he purchased using the board’s fund.

The Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) governing body has come down heavily on its chief executive officer (CEO), SB Deepak Kumar, for not disposing of “tatkal” files within the specified time and not returning a mobile phone worth Rs 50,000 he purchased using the board’s fund.

The body has also objected to the “harassment” meted out to the public by the CEO and board secretary Adapa Karthik, as the two – both Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers — are not available in their Sector-9 offices.(HT File)
The body has also objected to the “harassment” meted out to the public by the CEO and board secretary Adapa Karthik, as the two – both Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers — are not available in their Sector-9 offices.(HT File)

The body has also objected to the “harassment” meted out to the public by the CEO and board secretary Adapa Karthik, as the two – both Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers — are not available in their Sector-9 offices.

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In the minutes of the meeting held last month, board chairman Maninder Singh is stated to have told the governing body members that due to the CEO’s absence, many “tatkal” cases have not been approved within the specified time period of five days. Following this, the board “reprimanded” and “censured” SB Deepak Kumar for delaying these cases, and observed that the officer should be punctual in disposing of matters effectively.

The governing body was also apprised of the fact that the CEO and secretary hardly spend any time at the CHB office, as they have various additional charges.

At times, allottees called for a hearing at 11am have to wait till 4pm in order to be heard by both the officers, the members were told. The governing body was of the view that officers with additional charges should not be posted in the board, in view of public interest.

Mobile phone, TA/DA policy: CEO, secy’s salary to be deducted

The board also reprimanded the CEO for not returning a mobile phone worth Rs 50,000 purchased from its funds, and gave the directions to deduct 50% of the amount from his salary. In January this year, a policy was framed, wherein all officers have to return mobile phones procured from the board’s fund. All officers, but the CEO, have complied with the policy.

Also read: CEO gets power bill from housing board for unapproved ‘camp office’

In January this year, HT had exposed that SB Deepak Kumar had demanded a smart phone worth Rs 50,000 and spent Rs 40 lakh on sprucing up his official residence in Sector 16, even as he was holding the additional charge of the board CEO. The CHB engineering wing had spent the amount on his official residence, showing it to be his camp office.

Don’t miss: Exposed by HT, Chandigarh housing board CEO cries ‘presstitute’

The governing body, meanwhile, also decided that officers should claim travelling allowance (TA) and dearness allowance (DA) from the department on whose behalf they have performed the official tour. Since CHB secretary Adapa Karthik claimed TA/DA of Rs 1 lakh from the board despite going on an official tour of another department, the body decided to retrieve the amount from the officer, to be deducted from his salary.

Besides the board chairman, the governing body comprises UT deputy commissioner Ajit Balaji Joshi, chief architect Kapil Setia, chief engineer Mukesh Anand and three other members -- Tarsem Chand Garg, Prem Kaushik and Raghuvir Lal Arora.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Hillary Victor is a Principal Correspondent at Chandigarh. He covers Chandigarh administration, municipal corporation and all political parties.

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