COIMBATORE: Councillors from both the ruling DMK and opposition parties have voiced concerns over how Mayor K Ranganayaki is conducting the monthly meeting of the 100-member Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) council.
The councillors complain that they are not given prior information about the subject of resolutions and they are passed without debate or discussion in the meeting. The DMK and its alliance parties have a strength of 96 councillors, while AIADMK has three councillors and an independent councillor makes up the rest. Thanks to the huge majority, a majority of the resolutions are passed without opposition.
The performance of Mayor Ranganayaki has come under the lens as councillors say she just passes all resolutions without putting them to debate. “We are asked to give opinions on the resolutions only after they are passed, and there is commotion every month. We raise doubts, giving suggestions and opposing resolutions without any order. Even officials who are present in the meeting are confused about which resolution or subject we are speaking about,” said a councillor who did not wish to be identified.
Apart from this, councillors say they are not given enough opportunities and time to speak during the council meetings. AIADMK floor leader R Prabhakaran of AIADMK, who was suspended on Monday after he staged a protest, told TNIE, “None of our opinions are heard in the meeting. The mayor and DMK members pass resolutions at their own will without debate or discussion. A councillor must be given 10-15 minutes to speak. However, resolutions are not read out and are passed without the consent of the council. The mayor doesn’t allow any discussion.”
Even several DMK and its alliance parties’ councillors have also criticised the mayor. DMK floor leader R Karthikeyan told TNIE, “A few councillors have raised their concerns over this issue to me. We are planning to go back to the old way of reading out the resolutions one by one, discuss that particular subject, and ask the council members for their opinions and approval. We shall try and implement the change from the next council meeting.”
Speaking to TNIE, Mayor K Ranganayaki defended herself citing time constraints and other issues.
“When compared to other corporations, we are the only corporation that asks the councillors’ opinions. In other corporations, resolutions are passed instantly and the whole meeting is finished within a few minutes. As most of the resolutions are regarding petty engineering and maintenance they are passed without discussion.”
She added, “For each and every resolution, over 10 councillors will stand and start speaking which is time-consuming and it will take a full day to complete the meeting. Regarding the complaints from DMK councillors, we shall discuss the matter in our internal meeting and take a decision.”