Deccan Chronicle 21.01.2010

Corporators may have to disclose their assets

Jan. 20: Law and parliamentary affairs minister S Suresh Kumar on Wednesday agreed to amend the Lokayukta Act to make annual disclosure of assets and liabilities a must for corporators of all seven corporations in the state, including the BBMP .

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an awareness campaign on reforms in the electoral system he said the suggestion of Lokayukta Justice Santhosh Hegde to make such disclosure compulsory for corporators was a good one and the BJP government would act on it.

Earlier, Justice Hegde suggested that the government should make filing of assets mandatory for corporators as this would help people obtain information on what kind of wealth they had through the Right To Information (RTI) Act.

“If any corporator is found to have amassed wealth beyond his known sources of income a complaint could be lodged before the Lokayukta. As positions in urban local bodies are often misused the filing of assets could act as a deterrent,” he argued.

He also appealed to political parties not to field candidates with criminal records in elections. And if any of them did, the people should make sure not to elect them, he said.

Justice Hegde urged all voters to exercise their franchise in local body elections, pointing out that their representatives in these bodies worked more closely with them than MLAs and MPs.

“Unless we exercise our franchise we do not have the right to point fingers at poor infrastructure or at the system. Now that even resident welfare associations (RWA) are fielding contestants for the poll, the people must make a proper assessment of candidates before voting for them,” he said.

Noted litterateur U.R. Anantha Murthy also advised people to be cautious when electing members of the civic agency’s council.

Former ministers M.P. Prakash and R.V. Deshpande felt people must do their duty and turn up in big numbers to vote in the upcoming council elections.

Indian Express 21.01.2010

Loan: Few banks willing, PMC extends deadline

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) bid to procure a Rs 276-crore loan from a nationalised bank has run into rough weather with the civic body not getting favourable response from a minimum of three banks.

The civic administration had come out with an advertisement seeking the loan from nationalised banks in the language newspapers last week, wherein the banks were asked to apply within a week. As per the stipulated terms, the loan will have a minimum repayment window of 12 years, under the monthly reducing balance system.

However, the municipal corporation had to reissue the advertisement again this week and extend its deadline till this Friday. Reason: only two nationalised banks have responded to the advertisement, while it is necessary to get at least three bids. An official from the civic tender cell said, “We were forced to re-issue the tender as it’s necessary to get a minimum of three responses from three banks. Some private banks have shown interest, but it is up to the administration to decide whether to consider them.”

It was in May last year that the civic standing committee passed a proposal to seek the loan after the corporation found itself in a Rs 140-crore deficit in 2008-’09. It also needed money to carry out projects. Despite resistance from the opposition, a general body meeting in June approved the loan proposal. The government approval came in November.

“We had forwarded the loan proposal before the Assembly elections. We had mentioned that permission should be granted to take a loan from any bank. The government wrote back that the loan should be taken only from a nationalised bank,” said Ulka Kalaskar, chief accountant of PMC