Congress leaders stage massive protest opposite JSCL office

Staff Reporter

In order to vent ire against alleged collection of huge amoung of money from morning and evening walkers at Pt. Ravi Shankar Shukla stadium, a large number of Congress leaders and workers staged massive protest in front of the office of Jabalpur Smart City Limited (JSCL), on Monday. During the demonstration, CEO of JSCL, Satendra Singh met with the demonstrators and clarified that he was unaware of these activities. Congress leaders warned the CEO that they will not tolerate even a single rupee collected from morning and evening walkers and fees for learning any sports discipline should be determined by the Sports Department. Congressmen alleged that a sum of Rs 354 is being unlawfully collected from morning and evening walkers, which is expected to increase to Rs. 1100 in the near future.

The collection of this fee is being done without proper GST numbers mentioned in the receipts, thus indicating an illegal manner of collection. They said the general public is being exploited by the illegal practices of the Jabalpur Municipal Corporation and Jabalpur Smart City Limited.

They said the contract for managing the Stadium has been given to a company for 15 years at Rs 6 crores, despite the fact that the company was formed just a few days ago. According to regulations, the company receiving the contract should have been three years old. Congress leaders further said that as per the rules of Department of Sports and Youth Welfare, Madhya Pradesh, a coaching fee of Rs 120 must be paid for learning any sport. However, contrary to this, a VIP menu card has been created at Pt. Ravi Shankar Shukla stadium with fees ranging from a minimum of Rs 2200 to a maximum of Rs 36,000 to Rs. 80,000 for learning various sports. In opposition to these irregularities, City Congress Committee members and Congress Corporators staged protest in front of JSCL office.