It’s crunch time
During the question-answer session at the corporation council meeting in Madurai, each ward councillor needs to present their respective civic issues in three minutes flat. The restriction is important considering the huge number of ward councillors in the corporation.
Though several councillors had requested a bit more time for discussing their issues, the three-minute warning alarm continues to interrupt them.
Heart bigger than belly!
It was the day for some good-natured ribbing at the most recent council meeting at Ripon Building, the headquarters of the Chennai Corporation. The one that pulled the most laughs, however, was directed at the Deputy Mayor himself.
When it was his turn to speak, a councillor didn’t mumble: “My greetings to the Deputy Mayor whose heart is bigger than his belly.” A few nervous glances were directed at the deputy from across the council hall before he broke into a laugh and others followed suit.
Trap for cop
After repeated complaints with police against smuggling of m-sand from an unauthorised crusher unit that was closed by Cheranmahadevi Sub-Collector went in vain, Anainthanadarpatti villagers themselves caught one of the lorries red-handed around 1.30 am last Thursday, right in front of the crusher unit on Ambai-Alangulam Road.
The Pappakudi police reached the spot immediately and brought the lorry and its driver to the station. In the FIR, the police said they themselves caught the lorry during a routine vehicle check at 5.30 am at some different place.
Unsurprisingly, they also ensured that the names of the crusher or its proprietors did not appear in the FIR. Irate villagers released video footage showing police personnel visiting the detained lorry in front of the crusher and threatening the villagers for waylaying the vehicle.
Shock treatment
Tangedco workers, including engineers, staged a one-day strike recently without prior notice. Obviously, daily collections and routine work were adversely affected. In a few places, sub-stations were shut down due to labour shortages.
Following this, the power utility submitted a detailed report to the State government. As per instruction, the corporation is planning to transfer a few Class II and III officials within a fortnight.
Tyranny of meetings
Whenever the vice-chancellor of Madurai Kamaraj University calls for a HODs’ meeting, the latter gets into an uncomfortable huddle. Usually, these meetings last for over three hours and the agenda is not clear.
Recently, he discussed changing the university’s working hours between 8.15 am and 4.15 pm, citing late coming of most of the teaching staff. A few of the HODs appealed to him that they come from far-away locations.
Having crossed the age of 50 and being diabetic, most are facing challenges in sitting at one place during the meeting for a long period without going to the washrooms. They allege that the V-C doesn’t follow the ‘principles of democracy’.
(Contributed by Nirupama Viswanathan, Thinakaran Rajamani, S Guruvanmikanathan, MS Thanaraj and Jeyalakshmi Ramanujam. Compiled by Sreejith PM)