The New Indian Express 12.10.2010
No funds crunch for foreign trips
At a time when the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is reeling under a severe financial crisis, forcing it to keep several developmental projects on hold, the GHMC Standing Committee members are proposing to go on foreign tours at the cost of public money.The committee members instead of discussing civic issues concerning people are busy discussing their personal agenda like demanding a hike in honoraria, provision of laptops and separate standing committee office for members to meet and rest.
At the recent Standing Committee meeting, they put up a fresh proposal to the mayor and Standing Committee chairperson, Banda Karthika Reddy to visit foreign cities where the GHMC has sister-city agreements like Indianapolis (USA), Kampala (Africa) and Brisbane (Australia). The members wanted to study the best practices in these cities and replicate the same for the city. They also wanted to make the trips in three batches.
The committee members on condition of anonymity told Expresso the matter was indeed discussed and they were hoping the trip would materialise soon. When asked, the Mayor remained silent but after being pressed, she wanted to know why the question was posed to her when it came up for discussion in the meeting.
GHMC officials say the corporation is under tremendous financial stress and not in a position to take up developmental activities. Therefore, draining public money for foreign trips is indeed unfortunate. Instead of cutting costs and protecting interests of the GHMC, they are doing exactly the opposite, officials said. They added that due to paucity of funds, the Standing Committee rejected a proposal for release of their share for a road overbridge (RoB) at Sanjeevaiah Park.
