NK'S POST

NK SINGH The swanky bicycle stand, made of eye-catching green and grey plastic, reminds me of the neighbourhood puncture repair- wallah of our childhood. He would not only repair bicycles but also give it on hire to those who did not possess one. Within no time his fleet expanded from two to 20 and thereafter he opened his own bicycle shop. The  Madhya  Pradesh Government also decided to give bicycles on hire. Last year it spent Rs three crore of taxpayers’ money on importing 350 state of the art bicycles from Germany and erecting 92 smart docking yards at prominent locations across  Bhopal . Besides, it spent a few crores on laying a  brand new  track exclusively for bikers. Each smart bicycle cost about Rs 70,000 – equivalent to one year’s average income of citizens. The public bike...

NK SINGH The employees and officers of Bhopal Municipal Corporation go ahead with their anti-encroachment drive, demolishing  unauthorised  buildings, seizing illegal kiosks and removing handcarts that chock our footpaths and roads. Their sense of duty is admirable because they go about their jobs forgetting their bruised egos and battered bodies. But that sense of duty seems to be missing among those who are supposed to control and protect these employees and officers. One is still waiting for some sign of action from the Government regarding the series of ugly incidents that shook Bhopal in mid-August 2016. A ruling party MLA, along with his supporters, attacked a municipal store at Bhopal in broad daylight. He brazenly instigated his supporters to loot the  hand carts and kiosks that had been seized by the civic body under its anti-encroachment drive.  The unruly crowd plundered the store and beat up government employees who tried to stop t...

TERROR OF JHUGGI & GUMIT MAFIA NK SINGH It is time for the City Government of Bhopal to hang its head in shame. What happened in the Capital last week raises serious doubts about its ability to govern. Bhopal Municipal Corporation’s anti-encroachment squad had gone to New Market, heart of the town, to remove encroachments by street hawkers. Even as the squad was clearing the pavements and streets, a small-time leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party reached the spot. He confronted the municipal authorities, forcing them to stop their operation. As if this was not enough, the leader of the party that swears by rule of law, incited the hawkers whose goods were seized to attack municipal employees. The hooligans looted the seized goods, which had legally become government property by then, in broad daylight from the municipal trucks. Officers looked on shame-facedly. The armed police force accompanying the anti-encroachment squad was a silent spectator to the plunder...

DB Post 26 March 2017 NK SINGH Ask any self-respecting Indorean to locate the world capital, and chances are that he would unhesitatingly name Indore. It is a people passionately in love with their city. The citizens of Indore have just discovered one more reason to admire their beloved town. People of Indore are still gushing about, with awe in their voice, about the city administration’s ongoing crusade against cattle mafia. The unprecedented blitzkrieg against mafia started about a month ago, when illegal cattle-breeders stabbed to death a 25-year-old municipal employee during a drive against stray cattle. The murder took place in a crowded locality in broad daylight as armed thugs attacked municipal staff removing stray cattle. The stray cattle squad of Indore Municipal Corporation had gone to that area in response to citizens’ complaint to chief minister’s helpline. Since then Indore Municipal Corporation , backed by district administration and a long-suffering c...