Panchkula, March 13
Thousands of hoardings, wall paintings and advertisements highlighting the achievements of the Chautala government in the state will be removed by early next week.
Indicating this to The Tribune after inaugurating the Spring Fest here today, the Chief Secretary, Mr A.N. Mathur, said following the directions of the Election Commission (EC) the process for the removal of the hoardings had been set in motion.
The DCs are being issued orders to pull down hoardings and the compliance reports would be sent to the EC soon, Mr Mathur said, without giving a deadline for the removal of the hoardings.
Official sources, however, informed that since March 14 was Sunday, the hoardings would only be removed from Monday. Besides impinging upon the model code of conduct, the hoardings and the advertisements on the national and state highways also violated the directives of the Supreme Court and the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
On March 9, the EC had directed the Centre and the states to remove the hoardings erected at the “cost of public exchequer” within “24 hours or 48 hours” and sent compliance reports.
Reacting to a Tribune report, the Opposition parties had alleged that the hoardings besides ‘violating the EC’s model code of conduct, did not provide a “level-playing field” to all parties in the ensuing Lok Sahba elections and the State Assembly elections earlier next year.
It may be recalled that various government departments, boards and corporations had put up hoardings all over the state to highlight the “achievements” of governments. The DCs concerned were reportedly appointed nodal officers for deciding the number and place of the putting up hoardings.
It fact, the “orders” to install hundreds of huge hoardings costing several crores of rupees were passed at a meeting presided over by Mr B.D. Dhalia, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, last year. Now it would spend lakhs of rupees to remove them.
It is an irony of sorts that as DCs they first supervised the installing of the hoardings last year but now they would have to remove them as part of their responsibility as District Electoral Officers.
