Report confirms fleecing at Swargadwar

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Puri: People are being fleeced by the contractual employees of city’s municipal body, priests and workers for performing the last rites of their near and dear ones at Swargadwar cremation ground here, said a probe report submitted to the district administration by the additional collector Bibhuti Bhusan Das
recently.
The additional collector has also recommended the administration to introduce a number of steps to save people from unscrupulous elements operating at Swargadwar.
It is worth mentioning that the revenue divisional commissioner (central) had constituted a four-member committee led by the district additional collector to probe the allegations of mismanagement at Swargadwar.
The probe report claimed that the city’s civic body has deployed three contractual staff to manage affairs at the cremation ground. However, the contractual staff usually bunk their work.
In the absence of civic body staff at Swargadwar, a few private individuals often extort people who bring the bodies of their relatives for cremation.
Moreover, the priests and workers engaged at the cremation ground usually charge high prices from people.
The additional collector has recommended the administration to opt for a single window system at Swargadwar to provide all services to the people. “The civic body counter at the cremation ground must be computerised. The municipality must provide identity cards to priests and workers at the ground. Besides, steps should be taken to install CCTV cameras at Swargadwar,” said the probe report.
The report also pleaded for intensifying police patrolling in the locality and provision of drinking water, lavatory and rest room for people at the cremation ground.