Ludhiana residents forced to move courts amid LIT apathy

Amid apathetic attitude of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) staffers, the residents in large numbers are forced to move courts or consumer commissions to get their issues resolved.

According to information, the LIT is currently facing as many as 135 cases that the residents have filed against it owing to their “dilly-dallying” attitude. Most of the cases are related to land disputes in different localities developed by the trust. It is worth mentioning here that the residents in the past have accused the LIT of improper functioning.

Satish Thaman, a member of the district Ludhiana West Sub-Division Grievances Redressal Committee, obtained information about the cases from the LIT under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The Ludhiana Improvement Trust falls under the ambit of Right to Service (RTS) Act. The pending court cases put a question mark on the working of the LIT. The residents say, had the officials worked with efficiency, the visitors would not have moved the courts or consumer forums. Some of the cases are pending for the past several years.

Thaman said, “The list provided by the public information officer shows that public grievances are on the rise against the Ludhiana Improvement Trust, which needs to be redressed.”

According to the information obtained under RTI, 12 cases are pending with Supreme Court and 56 cases are sub-judice with the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC). Besides, 29 cases are pending with National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) while 16 cases with the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. Apart from these, there are 22 contempt petitions pending in the courts. In some of the cases, the LIT has also filed petitions in the courts, say sources.

With several people facing problems at the LIT office, Thaman has demanded from the state government and Ludhiana deputy commissioner (DC) to constitute a special investigation team of the legal experts and technocrats to make efforts to resolve the grievances. “They should also make efforts by arranging Lok Adalats under the district session judge,” said Thaman.

A city resident, Ramesh Srivastav, said, “The state government should send a team of special officers to ascertain as to why the residents face various problems at the LIT office. Some residents have been visiting the office for the past many years as their issues regarding their properties are not being resolved. More transparency should be brought in the working of the employees.”

LIT chairman Ajay Sood said law would take its own course. “The residents can meet me if they face any problem at the LIT office. We will try our best to resolve their issues,” he added.