CHENNAI: The Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS) department, which functions directly under Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, has transferred 35 key officials across corporations and municipalities in separate orders last week, a move sources identified as an effort to rotate personnel in town planning roles in order to curb corruption and improve transparency in urban governance.
The officials transferred are expected to handle building approvals, and action against encroachments, among others, within urban local bodies. The municipal administration department had over the past two weeks begun streamlining town planning approvals in urban local bodies in order to prevent rent seeking by intermediaries and staff.
One government order (G.O.) issued by Additional Chief Secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi transferred 23 officers in the joint director of Municipal Administration cadre – including commissioners of several corporations – across cities, including Dindigul, Karaikudi, Kumbakonam, Namakkal, Pudukkottai, Sivakasi and Tiruvannamalai.
Three newly created joint director posts at the Directorate of Municipal Administration, notified under a separate G.O., were also filled as part of the shuffle.
Through a second order, the department transferred 12 city and urban planners across the Town Planning Wing, moving officials between corporations including Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchy, Erode, Thoothukudi, Thanjavur and Hosur, and municipalities including Dharmapuri, Cuddalore and Viluppuram.