Shimla Municipal Corporation has been issuing notices to consumers who have not paid their garbage bills. The notices warn that if the bill is not paid within seven days, basic facilities such as electricity and water can be stopped by the Shimla MC.
However, as per a sensational report of a newspaper many administrative officers and employees of the corporation, including a health branch officer, have not paid their bills for eight months to one and a half years.
This is in contrast to the notices issued to consumers, with the MC Shimla targeting large commercial consumers whose garbage bills have exceeded 50,000. There are over 5,000 consumers in total who have not paid their bills on time.
The delay in payment has implications for the employees responsible for collecting the garbage, as their salaries are released based on the amount of garbage bill collected in the city.
Some sanitary inspectors and project officers have already paid their bills in advance until April 2023, but people demand for uniform action to be taken in cases that have outstanding bills (particularly in the department itself).
It is concerning that those responsible for enforcing the garbage bill are not paying their own bills on time, while they are simultaneously giving notices to others.
The delay in payment of bills by the corporation’s own employees is an issue that needs to be addressed to ensure fairness and compliance with regulations.
