Civic staff shun work to condemn attack by Vijayvargiya

Officials and employees of the civic bodies in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh abstained from work for a day on Friday to condemn the attack by BJP MLA Akash Vijayvargiya on a municipal official in Indore.

However, essential services like fire brigade, water supply and sanitation, remained unaffected during the stir.

Akash, son of BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, had assaulted a municipal officer while opposing demolition of a dilapidated house in Indore Wednesday. He is now in judicial custody.

"The staffers of civic bodies across the district abstained from work to protest against the Indore incident," Ram Dubey, state orgnisation secretary of Madhya Pradesh Nagar Nigam, Nagar Palika Karmachari and Adhikari Sangh told PTI.

The organisation urged the state government to frame a law for the protection of civic officials and employees.

"The civic bodies must have their own security guards to protect its staffers, who have to face the public wrath whenever they go on field to carry out orders for removal of encroachment," he said.

The organisation also urged the government to frame a law for suspension of public representatives, on the lines of action taken against government officers and employees, Dubey added.

He also condemned the incident at Ram Nagar in Satna district, where the civic body president along with his two followers attacked the chief municipal officer over a dispute, in which the latter suffered injuries.

"We give a week's time to the state government to frame a law and stop attacks on the civic body officials and employees in the state, failing which we might give a call for indefinite strike," Dubey said.