CHENNAI: The city corporation has written to the Commissionerate of Municipal Administration (CMA) seeking certain amendments in the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies (TNULB) Act that supersedes the Chennai Municipal Corporation Act 1919.
A committee headed by the directorate of municipal administration, to take into consideration representations from urban local bodies, is expected to give its response in around two weeks.
The state government had given the corporation two relaxation periods of six months each to help ease the transition, which ended in March this year. Officials now expect far-reaching consequences for the Chennai Corporation with diminished powers for the corporation commissioner and the mayor. Officials, who are not eligible for promotions as per the new Act are in a state of unrest, pressuring the civic body to fight the Act.
As per the TNULB Act, the commissioner who was able to accord administrative sanction up to Rs 3 crore can now accord sanction only up to Rs 1 crore. The mayor can now only sanction projects up to Rs 2 crore, from the earlier Rs 4 crore.
“As far as Chennai is concerned, the limit should be higher than what is stipulated,” a senior corporation official said. “The sanctioning powers will come down further in case the common rules, which are now applicable only for corporations other than Chennai, are also applied here. In this case, the commissioner can only accord sanction up to Rs 30 lakh. For projects of a higher value, the council has to pass a resolution that will be sent to the state to be passed as a GO. This will take significantly longer for the projects to take off,” the official added.
Another major implication would be the change in service rules, putting promotions of various officials on the line.
As per the existing corporation bye-laws, an entry-level staff can be promoted up to level 20. Such promotions are no longer possible under the new Act. Those entering the workforce under a level-1 pay scale, will continue to remain in level-1.
The corporation and the appointment committee had urgently pushed for over 800 promotions in the last three years. However, many are still left behind due to lack of vacancies.
As per the new Act, a common service committee will compile a common seniority list for officials above level 22. In case of a vacancy in city corporation, if an official from the directorate of town panchayats has higher seniority as per the list, the post will go to them.
The corporation has sought a relaxation of the clause that states graduation is mandatory for promotion from assistant to superintendent cadre.