REPORTING MC PROCEEDINGS A TOUGH JOB IN COVID TIMES

In Covid times, Chandigarh Municipal Corporation general house meetings are being conducted via video-conference. Though safe, and convenient, for MC officials and councillors, journalists are finding it harder to cover proceedings because the MC has refused to share the video conference link with them. Journalists who go to the MC office to watch the proceedings on the video screen set up have a tougher task on hand. The video stream quality is so poor that they can hardly make out what’s happening. An MC official admits, “There is one broadband line and more than 300 computers are running on it.” So by the end of the meeting, journalists are struggling to make sense of the proceedings. It’s like putting the pieces of a puzzle together. No wonder Chandigarh is struggling to become a smart city! has taken, such as curtailing market timings by an hour and closing Sukhna Lake on weekends, have little to do with the open borders. Though war room press notes claim screening at borders is being practised, the situation on the ground is different.

“Some senior officials don’t understand the principle of cause and effect. If you want to stop an effect (increase in cases), you need to address the cause (open borders). Screening at borders should be stringent and a priority,” said a UT official, requesting anonymity. officers and a DSP of Chandigarh Police. “Being a law enforcement agency, we had to keep all protocols in mind to avoid negative media attention,” said a senior UT police official with a smile. The announcement of Anand’s transfer left many netizens disappointed with some terming it a “grave loss” for Chandigarh. UT adviser Manoj Parida, Chandigarh mayor Raj Bala Malik and SSP Nilambari Jagadale congratulated Anand on his successful three-year tenure. The 2006-batch IPS officer of Haryana cadre has returned to his parent state. media recently to share the hardship her father faced before his Covid test and once he tested positive. Ravneet and her mother also tested positive. She claimed the authorities at Government Multi-specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, were rude and apathetic.