Hubballi Residents Compelled to Purchase Overpriced Files for Municipal Services
Citizens in Hubballi are encountering a significant hurdle when attempting to access municipal services, as they are being forced to submit applications in physical files at all Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) offices. Locals arriving with single applications report being coerced into purchasing files at inflated prices from staff-outsourced vendors operating within the same office premises.
Unnecessary Burden on Applicants
Suresh Kiresur, former president of the Association of Consulting Civil Engineers in Hubballi, emphasized that there is no legitimate need for a separate file for each application. "If multiple documents are properly punched or tagged, the staff should accept them without requiring a file," he stated. "However, the staff is making it mandatory even for straightforward procedures like khata changes. This imposes an additional burden on citizens who come unprepared to HDMC offices with just their application."
Systematic Exploitation and Document Mismanagement
Manjunath Goudar, a property consultant, traced the origin of this practice to the introduction of the e-swathu system in 2021. "Subsequently, it was extended to building permissions, clearance certificates, and all other services," he explained. "Frequently, staff misplace or lose entire files and then insist that citizens submit fresh documents in new files. If someone hasn't brought a file, they are openly directed to buy one from their outsourcing colleagues, who sell a file worth Rs 10 for Rs 15. Moreover, the HDMC staff never returns these files to citizens when issuing the required certificates."
Official Response and Public Outcry
During the mayor's phone-in event on February 4, a citizen brought this issue to the attention of the HDMC commissioner and mayor, but officials expressed ignorance about the episode. Aravind Jamakhandi, assistant commissioner of zone-3, defended the practice, suggesting that files are necessary to maintain individuals' documents and claiming it is not a problem, adding that all citizens submit applications in files.
Lingaraj Dharwad Shettar, president of the Hubballi Dharwad Ward Samiti Balaga Trust, criticized the HDMC staff for shifting responsibility onto citizens. "HDMC spends lakhs of rupees on stationery, including files, yet staff threaten locals by saying they won't be responsible if documents go missing unless citizens provide their own file," he lamented. "The HDMC staff are responsible for preserving all submitted documents and should not lose any. Instead, they are transferring the burden of safeguarding applications onto the citizens."
Efforts to obtain a comment from HDMC commissioner Rudresh Ghali were unsuccessful, as he was unavailable for response. This ongoing issue highlights a systemic problem within HDMC operations, causing inconvenience and financial strain on Hubballi residents seeking essential municipal services.
