KOCHI: Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said local governments should always be accountable to the public while undertaking development projects. At the inauguration of the Golden Jubilee celebration of the Kochi Corporation, Naidu also urged the local bodies to mobilise internal resources instead of being dependent on the state government for funds.
“If there is transparency and accountability, people will willingly contribute towards the development of the city by paying taxes on time. People’s representatives need not have to worry the public will turn against them due to the taxes. The tax-paying public rightly wants corruption-free, accountable, transparent and effective governance and will willingly pay taxes and participate in the development process once there is accountability,” said Naidu, who served as the Union Urban Development Minister before being elected as the Vice President. He was in Kochi as part of a two-day visit.
He said people must have a clear picture about the projects which will be implemented in their vicinity.
“Details of the cost involved, the implementing agency and the estimated time for completion should be made available to the public. Transparency in the business will win people’s confidence,” Naidu said.
“Since mayors and corporators are elected by people, they will be directly answerable to the latter. So, greater accountability has to be infused in the functioning of corporations and elected representatives. However, the bodies need to be empowered with three Fs — funds, functions, and functionaries. In case each local body is governed by a different act, the situation must be remedied by clubbing varied acts to bring out a single umbrella act for ensuring uniformity in functioning and governance,” Naidu said.
He said outdated laws and regulations that seek to centralise powers and functions rather than decentralise them must be reworked. “The top-down approach must be replaced by the bottom-up approach for finding effective governance at local level. Times have changed and so have people’s expectations,” Naidu said.
Mayor Soumini Jain welcomed everyone. Governor P Sathasivam, Local Administration Minister K T Jaleel, K V Thomas MP, Hibi Eden MLA and Deputy Mayor T J Vinod were present as were former councillors.
CPM MLAs give function a miss
CPM MLAs in Ernakulam, namely M Swaraj, K J Maxi and John Fernandez, stayed away from the Kochi Corporation Golden Jubilee function, despite their names being mentioned in the programme schedule. The reason for their absence is unknown. The MLAs could not be reached for comments despite several attempts.