CHENNAI: Area Sabhas in Chennai for the present quarter commenced on Thursday and city corporation officials said the public grievance meetings will be held at 10 locations till February 8. Details of meeting locations can be collected from corporation division offices. However, the residents and activists said not many were aware of the meetings since the announcement was made last minute.
The state government introduced Area Sabhas for urban local bodies in 2022 and announced that the meeting cycle will commence on January 25, April 14, September 15 and December 10 every year. However, the December 10 meetings did not begin owing to the flood relief works.
Sakthi Rekha, from the Voice of People NGO, said, “Councillors are confusing ward committee meetings with area sabhas. Even on Thursday, many of the meetings were held as ward committee meetings.”
It is alleged that only ward committee representatives were initially invited to the meetings. “Area sabha meetings should be held with the public's participation,” says Charu Govindan from Voice of People.
A chairman from the ruling party said initially ward committees were invited, and the public will be involved in the subsequent meetings. Another ruling party councillor said ward committee members would represent the public and take up grievances.