Paramarthi-EkPrayatan

Civil Society Organisation

New Delhi

HRDA has issued an urgent appeal to the National Human Rights Commission of India on October 24, 2019 regarding the frivolous charges levelled against Delhi based civil society organisation “Paramarthi -EkPrayatan” which has been working for the protection and preservation of hygienic conditions of Dwarka sub city in New Delhi. Paramarthi carries out sanitation and beautification work daily in the streets and pavements of Dwarka in New Delhi. The organisation has been issued a challan by South Delhi Municipal Corporation under several sections of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act which deal with accumulation of garbage in the streets.

According to sources, on October 16, 2019 around 2.30 pm the dedicated staff members of Paramarthi were collecting garbage and cleaning the streets around the intersection of Sector 4 and Sector 5 of Dwarka sub city in New Delhi when an official from SDMC came and raised objections regarding the pile of garbage collected. The staff of Paramarthi informed the official that all the piles will be loaded in a designated vehicle manually and transported to the notified and designated dumping sites/landfill sites for disposal located nearby Dwarka sub city. The official did not pay any attention to the explanation and issued an on-the-spot challan in the name of Paramarthi for various offences under Delhi Municipal Corporation Act .

Charges were framed against Paramarthi under sections 357, 139 and 461 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 which deals with Sanitation and Public Health and prohibits accumulation of rubbish and filth in street, punishment for certain offences related to public health and safety and the organisation etc. The organisation was asked to appear before the Municipal Magistrate Kakrola in New Delhi on October 24, 2019. As per Delhi Municipal Corporation’s reports, the garbage was laying there at the spot for the last 6 or 7 days in violation of the directions of National Green Tribunal regarding sanitation and hygiene. However, Mr. Ravi Tandon, founder of Paramarthi -EkPrayatan denied the charges and informed that, as a daily practice, the garbage is collected and kept in small piles at one place and later taken to be uploaded in the truck for its final disposal.