CHENNAI: Better coordination between bureaucracy and councillors to fulfil the demands of the people, a hike in sitting charge, making a recommendation to the metrowater to address problems in water supply and drainage, and transfer of officials working in the same ward for over three years were a few of the demands put forward by councillors in the corporation council meeting chaired by Mayor R Priya at Ripon Building on Saturday.
AIADMK members, however, staged a walk out to register their protest against the hike in property tax and the proposed hike in electricity tariff by the State government. Many DMK councillors also heaped praise on Chepauk MLA Udhayanidhi Stalin and a few ministers during the meeting. In response to the demands, the mayor said officials should inform councillors about works undertaken by the corporation in their respective wards; they should also consult with the councillors.
Apart from demanding that daily sitting charge be increased from current Rs 800, IUML councillor Fathima Muzaffer requested the mayor to increase the Rs 10 lakh sanctioned to each ward for carrying out the minor works. She also sought one office assistant each for the councillors.
Replying to her question on maintenance of public toilets, Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi said there was a proposal to privatise the toilets in all zones and these problems would be solved soon.
The councillors also urged the civic body to ensure that all corporation schools were provided with the new desks. The commissioner said 40% of the desks purchased with the Rs 10 crore fund have been handed over to corporation schools; the rest would be handed over to them by August 31. "There's a proposal to sanction another Rs 10 crore for this," said the commissioner.
Other notable demands include formation of an environmental standing committee, levying of property tax on land parcels that didn't have proper documents and didnt come under the category of waterway porambokku to increase the corporation's tax revenue.
Can the MLAs, ministers speak in council?
K Dhanasekaran, councillor of ward 137 and member of the accounts committee, asked the mayor whether MLAs and ministers are allowed to speak in corporation council meeting. To this, the mayor said they were also elected representatives and can talk as per the rules of the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919.