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Tamil Nadu News Papers

State Information Commission on e-governance map soon

Wednesday, 02 September 2009 02:54
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The Hindu 02.09.2009

State Information Commission on e-governance map soon

Staff Reporter

Appeals under RTI Act to be disposed of before October

 

40 officers fined for not complying with Act

Commissioner in Dharmapuri to inquire about 20 pending petitions

DHARMAPURI: The State Information Commission will be put on e-governance map soon, said R. Perumalsamy, State Information Commissioner, here on Tuesday.

He told reporters that the e-governance project was being fully sponsored by the Government of India.

“Once the Commission’s administrative functions come under e-governance, the day-to-day functioning will be possible at the click of a mouse in Chennai,” he said.

Videoconferencing

Even the Commissioner can take up the petitions pending for long, from the headquarters through videoconferencing and save thousands of rupees over transport and other expenses.

He said the Right to Information Act came into effect in Tamil Nadu on January 1, 2006.

Up to August 31 this year, as many as 1,18,400 petitions were received from the public seeking information from various government and government-aided departments.

Of these, 22,450 petitions did not come under the RTI purview, hence they were kept aside.

For the other petitions, the Commission instructed the authorities concerned to reply to the petitioners within the stipulated period as per the Act.

The Commission disposed of 8,950 appeals up to July and 850 appeals were pending.

These petitions would be disposed of possibly before October, the Commissioner said.

Since the Act came into effect, 40 officers were fined for not complying with it.

They were fined a maximum of Rs. 25,000 under section 20(1) of the Act.

In some cases, the Commission had recommended departmental disciplinary action under section 20(2).

The Commission was also empowered to direct the officials concerned to give compensation to the petitioners under section 19(8).

Mr. Perumalsamy was in Dharmapuri to inquire about 20 RTI petitions pending for the past 7 to 8 months.

He said nine petitions were from Salem, four from Dharmapuri, three from Villupuram, two from Krishnagiri and one each from Erode and Namakkal.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 02 September 2009 03:06
 

Wait for completion of drainage project continues

Tuesday, 01 September 2009 10:05
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The Times of India 01.09.2009

Wait for completion of drainage project continues

Jeeva, TNN 1 September 2009, 04:31am IST

CHENNAI: In 1999, Sathyanathan of Vijayalakshmipuram in Ambattur remitted Rs 7,500 to the municipality towards a underground drainage connection. He is still waiting. So are hundreds of others.

The scheme, for which the Ambattur municipality laid the foundation stone in a bid to provide drainage facility in 19 of its 52 wards in March 2001 during the previous DMK regime, is now, according to sources, one of the longest-delayed projects of the present government.

The civic body has collected Rs 8.14 crore Rs 7,500 each from over 11,500 households so far but has not even completed 50% of the work.

While many resident welfare associations in Ambattur staged demonstrations and road-rokos, several residents chose to file applications under the Right To Information (RTI) Act seeking to know when the project will be completed. All to no avail. The Government Taxes and Bills Payers' Association took up the issue with the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission as the municipality's reply to its RTI application was not satisfactory.

"We want the personal intervention of chief minister M Karunanidhi, to ensure the completion of the project without further delay and to make the municipality pay interest for the deposits it collected,'' said Muthukumar, a resident.

In its reply to an RTI application filed by this reporter, the municipality said the contract was originally awarded to Nagarjuna Constructions and that the work began only in November 2004. The contract was ended in May 2007 as the contractor quoted 120% above the estimate for the balance works and the project was given to the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB). Stating that works worth Rs 15.30 crore had been completed so far, the municipality said the delay was due to the monsoon, elections, change of location of pumping and lifing stations, public objection in some areas and change of alignment of the Chennai bypass.

Meanwhile, the municipality took up another drainage project at an estimated cost of Rs 155 crore, to be implemented in 24 wards under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme.

 

Municipalities debate preparedness for monsoon

Tuesday, 01 September 2009 10:01
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The Times of India 01.09.2009

Municipalities debate preparedness for monsoon

D Madhavan, TNN 1 September 2009, 04:28am IST

CHENNAI: Monsoon preparedness topped the agenda of the council meeting of Alandur and Pallavaram municipalities on Monday, with councillors blaming municipal authorities for not taking adequate measures before the rains.

Alandur councillors held the municipal staff responsible for the mounting garbage on roadsides. It is a major health hazard and rains make it worse, mixing garbage with slush on the roads. "Water logging has become a big problem in my ward which has several low-lying areas. The local body should take adequate action in facing the monsoon," said V Eswaraprasad councillor of 13th ward, Alandur.

Opposition leader V N P Venketraman urged the local body to speedup development works before the rainy season begins. "Why should the municipality wait till the monsoon sets in. It has to complete the works as quickly as possible. At every council meeting, we have been raising the issue of water shortage, but not even once our grievances have been addressed. The municipality should come up with a plan to tap the large amount of rain water, which get stagnated in the nearby Tirisulam hillocks, for secondary usages such as washing, bathing, gardening and cleaning purposes," he added.

Alandur municipality sanitary officer protested against the charges levied by 11th ward councillor N Perumal that the municipal staff, especially the sanitary officer, has been neglecting his ward despite repeated requests to clean construction debris dumped all over the area. Alandur municipality chairman A Duraivel pacified the agitated councillors and assured that efforts would be taken to make roads motorable by cleaning the sludge in the storm water drainage system.

The Pallavaram council meet saw councillors raising slogans against the local body for not taking adequate measures in preventing H1N1 flu. The death of V Sekar, a 42-year-old resident of Radha Nagar in Chrompet due to swine flu prominently figured at the one-hour council meeting. "Despite a death, the local body has not taken any precautionary measures such as conducting health camps in schools and colleges within the municipality limits. No efforts are made on educating people on preventive measures," said V Muthu, 6th ward councillor of Pallavaram municipality.

However, the Pallavaram municipal chairman, E Karunanidhi, said that the person, who died in Radha Nagar, already had many other diseases before falling sick with the flu. On the measures taken by the local body, municipal chairman Karunanidhi, who also represents 26th ward in Pallavaram municipality, told TOI that distribution of pamphlets and medical health camps in schools and colleges and other precautionary measures to prevent swine flu has been undertaken by the local body along with residential welfare associations within the municipality premises. "To mitigate water shortage, we are planning to have 100 borewells in areas such as Old Pallavaram. We also plan to desilt the choked sewage drains and water bodies in the municipality to prevent water logging," he added.

The 42-member Alandur municipality passed 54 subjects that came up for approval of the councillors at the meeting while the 42-member Pallavaram municipality passed 21 subjects in its meeting.

 
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