Ahmedabad TDO Bribery Scandal: IT-Style Site Inspections, BU Permission, and Cross-Verification

Assistant TDO Harshad Bhojak, who was serving in the Estate TDO department in the former zone of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, was caught accepting a bribe of Rs. 20 lakhs. Following the bribery scandal, the Municipal Commissioner has made changes to curb corruption and collusion among officers in the Estate Department. Now, Estate Department officials will no longer be able to directly interact with citizens in their ward or zone.

Changes in BU Permission Process and Confidential Inspections

For building development permissions (BU permission), inspections will now be carried out by engineering or estate department officers from other zones, instead of the concerned ward. The allocation will also be done via a private draw. The information about which officer is assigned to inspect a specific location will be provided in a sealed envelope, similar to an IT raid, to prevent prior knowledge of the inspection locations.

Estate-TDO Department Officials to Avoid Direct Contact with Public

Despite repeated strict instructions from the Municipal Commissioner, Estate Department officials in Ahmedabad continued to engage in rampant corruption and collusion. To address this, changes have been made to ensure that officials in the Estate and TDO departments do not have direct contact with the public. A PRO (Public Relations Officer) will be appointed as the nodal officer to handle daily operations and applications from citizens at each zone’s Estate Department office.

CCTV Installation in Estate Department Offices

CCTV cameras will be installed in all four directions of the Estate Department offices to monitor activities. Applicants or complainants will not have direct contact with ward officials but will present their cases to the nodal officer. Regular monitoring of CCTV footage will be conducted, and appropriate actions will be taken if cameras are found not to be operational. A portal software, integrated with the state’s e-Governance module, will be developed, featuring a dashboard for reports and reviews.

New Inward System for BU Permissions

The state’s e-Nagar portal will handle applications for BU permissions. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation will develop its own inward system for BU permissions. Instead of sending cases to the relevant ward, they will be randomly selected and forwarded to engineering or estate-TDO department officers in other zones. The plans approved by the assigned officers will undergo site inspection.

Private Draw Method for Random Selection of Ward

The random selection of wards for BU permissions will be conducted privately through a draw. The details of site inspections will be provided in a sealed envelope by the Income Tax department, ensuring that officers do not have prior knowledge of inspection locations.

Cross Verification of 5% BU Permission Cases

Each month, 5% of the BU permission cases from each zone will be cross-verified by the Deputy Municipal Commissioner of the concerned zone. A report will be submitted to the Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Urban Development – Estate). To maintain the validity of rejections in usage permissions, 10% of rejected cases will be randomly selected and reviewed at a higher level through a Rejection Review System. Weekly monitoring will be conducted by the Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Urban Development).

Zonal Review by Deputy Municipal Commissioner

To address increasing illegal encroachments on roads in various city areas, each zone’s Deputy Municipal Commissioner will review the fundamental operations of the Estate-TDO department, including encroachments, scheme implementation, street vendors, BU permissions, and housing allocation.