The Hindu 22.12.2010
GHMC household survey raises corporators’ hackles
Special Correspondent
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Sore at not being intimated about poverty alleviation schemes |
HYDERABAD: Congress and Majlis corporators took on GHMC Commissioner
Sameer Sharma and his senior officers for allegedly keeping them in the
dark about poverty alleviation programmes including a household survey
carried out in the slums for proposed Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY).
At the Council meeting here on Tuesday, MIM floor leader Mirza
Mustafa Baig sought details about the YSR Abhayahastam scheme
implementation for self-help groups and was quite agitated when he was
told that one lakh members are to be enrolled before January 15.
“When was the enrolment done? How come corporators have no clue about
it? What is the Urban Community Development (UCD) wing doing? Where are
the funds for slum development going,” he wondered aloud. He was
supported by his colleagues as well as some Congress members.
Lack of personnel
Congress member Aruna charged that the wing was lacking adequate
personnel and funds too while the corporators were not being informed
about any activity in the slums. Commissioner Sharma said that the last
date for enrolment into the ‘Abhayahastam’ scheme will be extended and
all corporators would be duly informed. He also offered to organise a
workshop on RAY on making the city slum free with funds to come from
JNNURM and other schemes next month. Angry members sought to know why
the slum survey was taken up without the corporators’ knowledge.
Mr. Sharma’s effort to convince them that the proposals were not
finalised for doing slum development and the nodal agency – Mission for
Elimination of Poverty in Municipal Areas (MEPMA) undertook a survey did
not satisfy members. “How can such a survey be done in our own areas
and we did not know anything about it? It is an armchair survey and such
wrong data could lead to funding problems,” they feared.
Members also expressed their ire over the inordinate delay in
completing works because of the “faulty” tendering process and wanted
reforms preventing contractors from taking more than two works,
blacklisting them, etc. Chief Engineer R. Dhan Singh admitted to the
delay and blamed poor financial condition in some works. Further reforms
in tendering process were pending with the standing committee.
