HYDERABAD: Even though the coffers of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) are almost empty, and most employees are getting late salaries, yet lakhs of rupees of taxpayers’ money are being spent on unnecessary things. Now, the civic body has taken up renovation of the Deputy Mayor’s office at an estimated cost of Rs 20 lakh. The chamber already is in good and excellent condition.
Even last year, lakhs of rupees of hard-earned public money had been spent on luxuries of the Mayor. Presently, the GHMC is in no position to take up any new projects owing to the lack of funds, except SRDP works through bank loans.
Even then, the GHMC Deputy Mayor Mothe Srilatha Shoban Reddy is focused on giving a facelift to her official chamber located on the first floor of the GHMC head office. The office does not require any repair work and is in good condition. However, spending lakhs and turning the premises into a luxurious corporate office is uncalled for. The furniture and interiors of the chambers were already in good condition, yet the civic body wants to keep spending precious public funds on its uplift.
Following the footsteps of former mayor Bonthu Rammohan, who last year undertook a complete transformation of his official chamber by splurging Rs 30 lakh, Srilatha has already initiated various works to renovate her chamber. It is learnt that up to Rs 20 lakh of public money is being utilised for upgrading her office, which involves Rs 5 lakh- Rs10 lakh of interior designing. At the moment, the existing interiors, glass doors frames, ceiling in her chambers and antechamber have been removed and will be fitted with new furniture and interior fittings.
Ironically, as per the GHMC Act, the deputy mayor has no powers to sanction any new civic works and is to be treated like any other GHMC corporator. Similarly, the mayor too, except for chairing the council meetings, standing committee meetings and sanctioning emergency works of up to `1 lakh during calamities, has no major powers.
The GHMC officials said that the deputy mayor is mainly elected to fill the gap when the office of the mayor lies vacant. If the mayor leaves the city for more than 15 days or is incapacitated, his/her functions would be devolved on the deputy mayor until the mayor returns or recovers. She has no power to sanction any work.