'Mayor let Godrej use Civic Centre for free'

Mukesh Goel, the leader of the Opposition in North Delhi Municipal Corporation on Friday alleged that Mayor Ravinder Gupta acted in an “unconstitutional way” by allowing a private company to use the premises of the Civic Centre for the promotion of its product and taking part in its press conference.

An event was held in the meeting hall of the Civic Centre on Tuesday in which a mobile application for tracking mosquito infestation was launched by Gupta. The app was an initiative by Godrej Consumers Products Limited.

“It has never happened in the history of the civic body that the premises had been given to a private company for their function. The event had no link to the municipal corporation. Neither was the chairman of standing committee, nor the Leader of House had any information about it,” Goyal said.

The LCongress leader also claimed that the mayor “specially” went to receive the Godrej regional manager.

“There was no payment made to the corporation for renting its premises. The mayor was acting like the company’s brand ambassador. If he wanted to spread awareness regarding dengue, why did he choose only one company? He was, in a way, telling the public that the municipal corporation cannot tackle the dengue menace and they should buy the HIT spray,” he said.

Terming Gupta’s participation in the event as a “cheap publicity stunt”, Goyal said the logo of the corporation was removed from the meeting hall and instead ‘HIT’ logo was used in the background.
He also said the use of the air conditioner lighting during the event resulted in the wastage of the corporation’s resources.

“According to Delhi Municipal Act 1957, every councillor, every municipal officer and any other municipal employee shall be liable for the loss, waste or misapplication of any money or other property owned by or vested in corporation, of such loss, waste or misapplication is a direct consequence of his neglect or misconduct,” Goyal said.

He has also written a letter to Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, requesting him to take action against the mayor according to the Municipal Act.