CHENNAI: Activists from Tambaram alleged in the ward committee meetings on Tuesday that the area sabhas consisted of only members from the DMK, the party to which most of the councillors belong to.
The meeting was held for the first time after it was inaugurated by the municipal administration and water supply minister KN Nehru in Pammal (ward 6) on Tuesday on the occasion of local governance day. According to Tambaram corporation officials, out of the 70 wards of Tambaram corporation, the meeting was held in over 65 wards.
While the then DMK government amended the Tamil Nadu Municipal Laws (Amendment) Act in 2010 to include area sabhas and ward committees in urban local bodies, the rules were notified only this year. As per the rules, Tambaram being a corporation with 10 lakh population, has nine area sabha members for each ward.
However, activists and residents alleged that the nominations to the area sabhas were biased, as only people from DMK were selected for it. David Manohar, an activist from Arappor Iyakkam said, “The ward committee meetings held today were an eyewash. For the area sabhas to really work, people should be made aware of the areas under their wards. Barring a handful of area sabha members, rest of them belong to the ruling party.”
Meanwhile, a councillor, on condition of anonymity, accepted this, and said, “There are political situations where the ruling party is under pressure to give party men some posts. While five out of nine members from my ward are social workers, the rest are from the DMK. We have to make compromises like these,” said a councillor from an allied party of the DMK.
The minister attended a meeting at a marriage hall in Tambaram and several area sabha members made a sleuth of demands, including widening roads and proper street lights, among others, to him.