Ujjain: Allegations of favoritism has come to the fore in the grant of compensation for the removal of 147 houses of Mahakal Tekri area.
Outsees alleged that all the members of families have received the ex-gratia amount while in some families only one member has received the compensation amount.
A total of 147 houses located on Mahakal Tekri area are being removed under the Mahakaleshwar Temple Expansion Plan which is being executed by the Smart City Project Company. The administration has selected 250 people living in these houses to give compensatory amount. Each oustee is being given an amount of Rs 3 lakh. On getting information about the distribution of compensatory amount on Sunday, some cases have come to the fore, which are enough to put the whole process in the dock.
For instance one Mirabai, has allegedly submitted documents of two sons Lokesh and Rajan along with husband Tikaram. The claim of Mirabai, Tikaram and Lokesh has been approved and the trio have received Rs 9 lakh whereas the family claimed a total compensation of Rs 12 lakh.
One Sadaatullah Khan had made a claim with his two sons Faridullah Khan and Atullah Khan. They have received the due amount of Rs 9 lakh against their claim.
One Raisa Bi who had made a claim along with husband Rashid Shah and their sons Salman, Azad and Shahzad. All three sons are married. However, only the claim of Raisa Bi has been approved.
In another case one Naseem Bi submitted documents seeking claim in the names of her sons Abdul Rehman, Yusuf and Nooruddin along with her husband Abdul Rahim. In this case, Naseem Bi and son Abdul Rehman have received the compensation but the claims of the rest of the applications have been rejected.
Meanwhile, tehsildar Purnima Singhi told that 20 houses have been removed so far. The landlords of 12 out of 14 houses have taken the cheques of compensatory amount. The work of removing their houses will start from Monday. Single window has been opened for the convenience of the people to hear out the grievances of the people. Intimation has been sent to the homes of those who did not take the cheque. Action is being taken as per the survey, she said.
PUROHITS DEMAND FACILITIES
The Purohits of the Mahakaleshwar Temple have written to Asheesh Singh, collector-cum-chairman of the Mahakaleshwar Temple Management Committee demanding that they should also be provided with a hall, room and locker so that all the priests of the temple can come in it and change clothes and keep the items of worship etc. Mahakaleshwar Temple Purohit Samiti president Pt Ashok Sharma said that at present all the priests have to wear sola (stitched cloth) in the temple only among the common visitors, which tarnishes the image of the temple and themselves. Along with this, there is also difficulty in keeping worship material, literature etc. In the past too many times the priests have requested the committee in this matter but till date no attention has been paid and only assurances have been given, he complained.
