The Times of India 08.01.2010
JMC meeting on Jan 13, likely to be stormy
JAIPUR: Following mounting pressure from various quarters, mayor Jyoti Khandelwal has finally decided to convene the first general council meeting of the JMC on January 13. However, the councillors of BJP, who have the majority in the board, is on a warpath for not including the issue of formation of committees in the very first meeting.
“There is plenty of work pending due to want of clearance from the committees that would be constituted by election in the very first meeting of Sadharan Sabha. The sections 51, 52 of Rajasthan Municipal Act 2009 are also clear on it,” said deputy mayor Maneesh Pareek. He claimed that the new mayor has been scuttling all efforts towards city’s development.
A JMC official, who claims to be well versed with the laws, told the TOI that it is the planning committee which prepares and monitor schemes for new work and also new policies formulated by different committees.
Pareek accused the mayor of stockpiling the files and alleged that in the absence of committees, the mayor has been centralising the power. “She does not clear any file and thus no work happens, virtually paralysing the system. The officials do not work on the pretext of non-constitution of committees,” said the deputy mayor.
On the contrary, Khandelwal said: “For us development of the city has been of prime concern and would do every thing to make it possible. However, in the first meeting, we have some other important agenda to work on.”
“Projects like modern slaughter house, energy saving projects and various other routine matters are dependant on the clearance from the panels. That is why we have been insisting on the constitution of committee since the formation of the board,” said Pareek. If the JMC follows the JDA work culture which does not have any elected representatives, why the local bodies should have elections, he asked.
According to the deputy mayor, the first meeting holds a lot of significance as at least 15 committees need to be constituted and several unfinished work requires sanction of the board. “The BJP corporators will hit the floor with their agenda of development like Total Sanitation Programme and Complete Sanitation Programme that involves a minimum of Rs 400 crore of new contract to be awarded,” said Pareek. “The Congress had scuttled our bid in the past to open the tender for door-to-door collection of garbage in the city which has been urgent since ages. This time we would float the tender at the earliest,” he added.
