51 SMC Employees Facing Enquiries, Corruption Cases

Srinagar, Sep 8: The Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) has 51 employees facing enquiries or cases before different agencies, according to information provided under an RTI application.The SMC Public Information Officer said the available records showed that 51 employees were facing enquiry/cases in different agencies. However, the corporation did not provide case-wise details, names of employees, agencies involved, allegations or the current status of the proceedings.The disclosure comes amid a significant staff shortage in the civic body. SMC has 2,240 employees against a sanctioned strength of 3,110, leaving 870 posts vacant, or nearly 28 per cent of the sanctioned positions.Of these vacancies, only 55 posts — including Junior Assistants, Works Supervisor Grade-IV and Tax Assistants — had been referred to recruitment agencies. This leaves 815 vacant posts outside the posts referred for recruitment, according to the RTI response.The figures also show SMC’s dependence on workers outside its regular establishment. The corporation reported 2,366 consolidated and daily-wage workers, along with 1,544 consolidated sanitation workers and 1,346 regular safaiwallas. No employees were reported under the contractual category.The RTI response, however, does not state that the 51 employees have been found guilty. It only records that they are facing enquiries or cases before different agencies, with no outcome of the proceedings provided.