Senior officials of Surat Municipal Corporation splurged Rs 5 Cr public funds to make their offices Vaastu compliant

SMC, which has a yearly budget of Rs 7,000 crores, has come under scrutiny after senior officials spent public money renovating and refurbishing personal office chambers at the SMC headquarters in Mughalsarai. The officials aim to ensure that they function from Vaastu-compliant office space that also reflects the corporate culture of the municipal corporation by modifying the interior aesthetics, furniture, seating arrangement, and so on.

Seeing their senior officials renovating office chambers, subordinate personnel in several municipal zones have begun the same activity of spending public money for their own convenience.

Kamlesh Naik, deputy municipal commissioner, redesigned the entire office, which was formerly occupied by Director of Planning (DoP) Jivan Patel at the SMC headquarters in Mughalsarai. According to vaastu principles, Naik shifted his seating from north to east.

Similarly, deputy commissioner Swati Desai changed her office by shifting the chairs from east to north. The entire Secretary branch of the SMC has been remodelled and given the appearance of a corporate office.

Many issues have been raised about senior officials squandering public funds on remodelling their offices since the SMC’s new headquarters is expected to be completed within the next 36 months.