Darjeeling civic body to use social media to curb graft

Amitava Banerjee | MP | 27 April 2022 | Darjeeling: The Darjeeling Municipality has decided to use social media to prompt public participation in the war against corruption. The civic body on Wednesday announced a Whatsapp number to report corruption and another number to function as a helpline. 

"We will have zero tolerance towards corruption. The public will have to act as the eyes and ears. Any corruption that they come across in the Municipality they can report through the Whatsapp number. Their identity will not be revealed. We have started social media accounts that can also be used. 

Along with this a helpline has also been started" stated Yangzi Sherpa, Vice Chairman, Darjeeling Municipality. The number to report corruption is 6296443416 and the helpline number is 8250458622. 

darjeelingmunicipality is the account names for Facebook and Instagram accounts. djmunicipality is the twitter handle. The Vice Chairman claimed that there are middlemen who extract money from beneficiaries by choosing them for various development schemes and civic amenities. 

"In schemes like House for all- middlemen extract money and at times misguide beneficiaries. Such cases can be reported in the anti-corruption line. The matter will be redressed within 48 hours. We will also take legal action against the people involved" stated Ritesh Portel, Chairman. 

Even illegal buildings have come under the scanner of the new Municipal board. In Darjeeling the height allowed for a building is 11.5 metres which roughly translates to four storeys. 

However the rule has been rampantly flouted with most buildings having more than 8 storeys. Notices have been served to 25 such buildings for having flouted building rules. 

"The market is being flooded with food items from China and Nepal. We have decided that we will not allow packed food products without FSSAI mark to be sold in the market. For this we will give 10 days to the shopkeepers to dispose of such products. After 10 days we will conduct raids and take stringent action against defaulters" added Vikki Lama, Councillor. 

http://www.millenniumpost.in/kolkata/darjeeling-civic-body-to-use-social-media-to-curb-graft-475831