The Times of India            04.02.2014

Councillors take lessons in civic governance at state campat state camp

COIMBATORE: A two-day orientation and training programme for councillors from Coimbatore and Tirupur corporations began at a hotel in Chinniyampalayam in the city outskirts on Monday. As many as 68 out of the 100 councillors from Coimbatore and 32 elected representatives including the mayor from Tirupur are attending the sessions that deal with an array of issues from understanding the budgeting exercise to getting a grasp over the Right to Information Act.

"The sessions were very useful as they explained the relevance and importance of the office of the mayor and how effectively we could serve the public," said A Visalakshi, Tirupur mayor.

The orientation program, conducted by the Commissionerate of Municipal Administration through Tamil Nadu Institute of Urban Studies, has been divided into two day-long sessions. In the first session the councillors were introduced to the basic features of local self governance and the ideal conduct at council meetings. This was followed by a session on the powers duties, roles and responsibilities of the corporation council and the mayor. There was specific stress on ensuring transparency in the activities and policies of the urban body.

"The sessions are divided into various segments and each of them will be dealing with specific issues. We are also trying to instil leadership values and motivate the elected representatives to perform better as representatives of the people," said K S Selvanayaki, assistant professor and session co-ordinator, Tamil Nadu Institute of Urban Studies.

Coimbatore mayor S M Velusamy sat for the morning session. Senior officials including Coimbatore corporation commissioner G Latha also attended a part of the session. According to Meena Loganathan, ward no 49 councillor, the resource persons handing the sessions made it a point to elaborate on the powers of the various standing committees of the corporation. "For example, they explained how each member of a standing committee like taxation committee or health committee could involve themselves in various policies and projects of the corporation," she said.

The training camp is part of an ongoing state-wide initiative to empower elected representatives of local bodies and is being held at Madurai, Salem, Chengelpettu, Coimbatore and Trichy districts on various dates. A similar camp was held for elected members of municipalities at Coimbatore between January 27 and February 1.

The training program will also contain an exclusive session for as many as 243 female elected representatives of all the local bodies on Wednesday.