The Times of India 15.10.2010
MC at it again, councillors off on a jaunt
CHANDIGARH: When it comes to study tours, there’s just no stopping the municipal councillors of Chandigarh. Prima facie, their earnestness to learn would mean a better place to live for the residents of City Beautiful. However, controversy seems to erupt whenever these tours are organized.
A fresh round of bickering has broken over an upcoming trip of the second batch of councillors to Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi. Though the mayor expressed her dissatisfaction regarding the jaunt, the municipal commissioner has gone ahead and given his nod.
Sources in MC said mayor Anu Chatrath had advised deferring the tour to Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi as local elections would be on in the cities when the Chandigarh team reaches there. However, with UT administration approving the trip, the commissioner seemed in no mood to put his foot down.
“Polls of Kochi MC and panchayat are scheduled for October 25. Officials will not be able to attend to councillors,” the sources added. Newly-appointed additional commissioner-cum-secretary Lalit Siwach reportedly wrote to the MC commissioner, apprising him of the facts. The letter, a copy of which is with TOI, reads, “The purpose of the study tour… stands defeated when the (Kochi) municipal council is already dissolved. Moreover, this may invite hue and cry in the media as well as invoke audit objections, leading to financial implications. At this juncture, it will be in the fitness of things that the proposed study tour is deferred.” While the first group of councillors returned on October 10, the second team is scheduled to leave on October 18.
