The Council meeting on Thursday (January 30, 2025) witnessed heated debates as councillors put forth dissatisfaction regarding officials’ absenteeism during ward and standing committee meetings, reassigning of works without consulting standing committees among others.
Ward 104 Councillor T.V. Shemmozhi highlighted difficulties in reaching the Commissioner or Mayor, who are often unavailable, citing meetings. As a result, grievances are only informed to their assistants, he said. The RDCs were absent from four standing committee meetings, while the Chief Education Officer (CEO) briefly attended one before leaving, citing the Commissioner’s summons, he said.
Elected representatives’ concerns remain unresolved despite being raised in council, ward, and committee meetings due to officials’ absence, the councillor said and claimed gaps in tender processes, implementation of projects and difference of opinion due to it.
According to him, during CM M.K. Stalin’s tenure as Chennai Corporation Mayor from 1996 – 2002, weekly public meetings on Tuesdays with elected representatives and officials were regular. Similarly, time must be allocated for addressing issues with the Commissioner, Mr. Shemmozhi suggested.
Deputy Mayor M. Magesh Kumaar stated that officials must respond to grievances raised by elected representatives during meetings — this is a custom. He suggested that meetings should be stopped if officials are not present, in response to a query from D.Elaya Aruna, Chairman Standing Committee (Town Planning).
Mayor R.Priya replied to the Council that monthly ward and standing committee meetings scheduled in the first 10 days of each month have been notified to the concerned, yet this trend was worrisome. “Why should meetings be held if officials are not present in the meeting? This question or request must not be repeated, and authorities must work towards this,” she said.
Standing Committee Chairman (Education) Viswanathan then claimed that the administration of Parks and Playfields Department was reassigned to the Works Committee without consultation, sparking a heated debate among the councillors. The Commissioner, Mayor, and Deputy Mayor shuffled duties as per orders issued in August 2024, without consulting the standing committee members and Chairman, he alleged. Mr. Vishwanathan further alleged that he was not given proper reply as he questioned regarding heavy-duty trucks and gaps in taxation.
Commissioner J.Kumaragurubaran replied, “With regard to Parks and Playfields, subject allocation was done and was handed over only to another Standing Committee – Works. The committees were not skipped and decision was taken by Commissioner or Mayor. The concerned files will be submitted to committees before presenting to the Council.”
On request for further clarifications from councillors, he said, “There are several maintenance works in the Parks and Playfields. Since the Education Department works were heavy to handle, it was handed over to the Deputy Commissioner (Works) from Joint Commissioner (Education). It would be ideal that the corresponding committees look into the files rather than other. The intention was not to change committees,” he said. He also added that there was nothing personal.
N. Chitrarasu, Chairman of Standing Committee (Works) said that the same happened when Mechanical Department administration was shifted under Health Department, but he did not raise any objection over this. “We are all part of one movement. Under the Urban Local Bodies Act, no standing committee has any rights. No files regarding parks and playfields were presented to the Standing Committee (Works) by the officials. Only demolition related files are presented. Standing Committee (Health) Chairman has to visit hospitals or such infra to know the issues. Many problems in Works committee are related to healthcare, but the City Health Officer is not present at meetings,” he added.
On the heavy machinery issue, he said there are technical issues in tendering for acquiring the infrastructure. Commissioner added to this saying the heavy-duty trucks will be deployed in February.
During Zero Hour, Ward 138 Councillor K. Kannan said the complaints filed through public grievance redressal system must be checked before action is taken by officials as at times people not belonging to the regions report issues. This irks locals who have opposing views, he said. “We need to seek votes from the locals of the areas and answerable to them… officials must inform us before taking action, visiting for inspection,” he requested.
Published – January 31, 2025 01:04 am IST