Officers against whom dereliction of duty is proved must be punished if we want that good governance should be the motto of the administration. Why should the Project Director of National Highway-1A turn deaf ear to the entreaties of the Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate of Kathua asking him to repair the damaged sector of the NH-A1 between Lakhanpur and Kalibari when there are clear administrative and court instructions that it is the responsibility of the authorities of the NH to order and ensure repairs. Potholes and cracks in this sector have made traffic vulnerable to accidents and loss of human life. A hospital located in the nearby area has to run the ambulance over this tract while serving the public and serious patients are carried in the ambulance. Broken surface and potholes make movement of vehicles very dangerous over this stretch. Under Section 188 of Indian Penal Code and National Road Safety Policy penalty worth Rs 10 lakh can be imposed on the defaulting authority. National Highway Authority is an important national organization which has been assigned very crucial task of building and maintaining the national highways in the country. Project Director’s defiance has forced the Kathua District administration to initiate proceedings under Section 133 of CrPC against him and the order is that repair and black topping of the stretch should be completed soon. It is travesty of administration that such a situation should arise where the District administration needs to invoke the intervention of law in a matter that is simple and direct administrative in nature and substance. We think that in such a situation, where there is danger of administrative collapse, higher authorities should take serious note of things and act with firmness against the defaulters.
This organization should have nationalist perspective of the task that has been assigned to it and must also follow the rules and regulations, instructions and guidelines set forth from various superior agencies in regard to carrying out the task assigned to it.
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