Improvement Trust chairman has a lot on his plate

Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, December 5

Close on the heels of RK Popli assuming the charge of the chairman of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT), the Trust has made an offer to sell 43 commercial sites through a public auction on December 12, 2014.

Popli, who has made his mark as the Estate Officer of the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority, will hold the additional charge of the chairman of LIT, relieving Supreet Singh Gulati, Additional Deputy Commissioner (D).

In an interview with The Tribune, Popli said it would be his endeavour to make the day-to-day work in LIT office public-friendly. "To make a beginning, the record of properties will be computerised to the possible extent and a single window system will be set up to cut down procedural hassles," he said.

Popli added that the development works, both in the conceptual and execution stages, were being reviewed to set priorities.

At a meeting with employees and officials of the Trust, he called for transparent working and diligence in duty. The new chairman said a mechanism was being put in place to keep the employees and officials deployed for public dealing under observation in order to ensure that members of public visiting the office for day-to-day work were not harassed.

On the three successive public auctions conducted by LIT from July 2013 onwards, drawing a blank, Popli said he had sought a detailed report of unsold commercial properties, plots and residential flats of the Trust in various localities.

“After the action scheduled for December 12, we shall review the entire mechanism of holding public auctions. Only those properties will be offered for sale which have good potential and can find buyers at a reasonable premium over the reserve price. In some cases, review of the reserve prices which are considered on a higher side will also be sought from the Local Government Department," he said.

Public auction on December 12

The LIT has made an offer to sell 43 commercial sites and built-up properties through a public auction. These include five built-up booths in Model Town Extension (Part II), 20 built-up SCFs and four built-up booths in Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, one SCF in Bharat Nagar Extension, five built-up booths in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, four built-up booths in Maharishi Valmiki Nagar, one school site in Kidwai Nagar, one SCF site, one health centre site and one school site in Rajguru Nagar.