Jalandhar, June 20: With various Doaba MLAs and state leaders already taking up cudgels against the drive against illegal buildings initiated by Local Bodies Minister Navjot Sidhu in Jalandhar, Education and Environment Minister OP Soni also joined the Congress leaders opposing the minister’s action.
Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Jalandhar MLA Sushil Rinku have already resented the drive. Addressing industrialists here on Tuesday, Soni said Sidhu should have waited until the implementation of the one-time settlement policy before initiating the drive.
Sidhu was cold-shouldered by Kapurthala Congress leaders during his visit to the city on Sunday, while many other Jalandhar MLAs had also opposed the drive.
Soni said, “The one-time settlement policy says compounding fee will be taken and if a poor person has built his home around 50 years ago, he should not be suffering. So either the policy should not have been framed or Sidhu should have waited for some time.”
The minister added, “Although Sidhu has been doing his work diligently and I am with him, it should be kept in mind that nobody is made to suffer.”
When told that Sidhu was not demolishing buildings, but cracking down on illegal colonies being established to get the benefit of one-time settlement policy, Soni said if someone was constructing new buildings, it was a crime.
Source Tribune India
