BENGALURU: BBMP councillors on Friday demanded that West and Dasarahalli Zonal Commissioner V Anbu Kumar be removed from duty, and be assigned the role of special commissioner, administration.
Cutting across party lines, councillors demanded that Kumar be removed from service as he was not doing his assigned job or clearing files, neither was he cooperating with corporators to address citizens’ problems.
Corporator Umesh Shetty said that while work was going on in other zones, West Zone faced a number of problems because of Kumar. “He has a lot of workload as special commissioner, and should continue in that role. He is unable to handle other files. When corporators approach him for work to be executed, he says the matter can be raised in the Council, and will answer there. He doesn’t acknowledge corporators, and treats us like peons,” Shetty alleged.
The other councillors echoed him, and those from Dasarahalli and West Zone said that when the area was flooded, he did not even pay a visit. Neither has he addressed the issue of garbage and potholes in his zones, they alleged.
The corporators said that N Lokesh, Ravi Kumar Surpur and D Randeep are doing good work and shoult not be transferred, and also threatened to stage a walkout if the Mayor and Commissioner did not issue immediate orders to remove him. Mayor N Goutham Kumar said that he had directed the Commissioner to change him immediately, and a decision will be taken soon.
However, Commissioner BH Anil Kumar defended his official and said he had issued work orders for 221 files. While he initially agreed in the Council to shift him out, while addressing the media, he said: “Anbu Kumar is a good officer and his services are needed for the BBMP. It has been just a month since he joined, I will request the Mayor and corporator to give him some more time.”
‘Will relook into SAS scheme’
BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar on Friday said a committee under special commissioner, finance, has been set up to plug all loopholes in the property self-assessment scheme (SAS). Addressing the councillors, he said the scheme was introduced in 2007 to ease property tax collection. He admitted that of the 16 lakh properties under the tax net of BBMP, only 109 properties were surveyed and anomalies to the tune of Rs 800 crore were found. “This, I admit, is an error on the part of BBMP. SAS is being implemented without any amendments,” he said. Pertaining to a case in Bommanahalli, where a former joint commissioner is alleged to have reduced property tax of a commercial property from Rs7 crore to Rs1 crore, he said the official was from the cooperative department and a letter has been sent to the head of the department to take legal action and the Palike has prepared a charge sheet. Kumar added that taxes collected from nine properties were also being relooked at.