CHENNAI: Councillors on Tuesday discussed the corporation budget that was tabled on Monday. The majority of them praised various schemes announced for the welfare of corporate school students and also suggested some new initiatives.
D Viswanathan, education standing committee chairman, said tenders to maintain parks, tennis courts, skating rinks and swimming pools have been awarded to the same contractor and alleged that this has resulted in a loss of more than Rs 3 crore to the civic body. “We should ensure that a contractor is not given more than a certain number of tenders. The contractor is also getting help from some corporation officials,” he further alleged.
Replying to this, Mayor R Priya said the corporation can function effectively only when officials and elected representatives work together. “Whenever there are specific complaints against officials, the elected representatives can forward them to the mayor, deputy mayor and corporation commissioner privately,” she added.
Several councillors also wanted to increase the ward development fund and demanded they be given salaries. “As there are many people who talk about the positives of the budget, I want to give a few suggestions. Providing plastic shredding machines to the wards can help to manage plastic waste.
The councillors should be informed of the funds spent under a scheme and the amount remaining periodically,” said BJP councillor Uma Anandan, who also praised the budget for several good initiatives.
The corporation council also passed a resolution to rename the stretch connecting Kamarajar Salai near Marina and Anna Salai, to the Indian Bank headquarters, as VP Raman Salai.