The Hindu 05.02.2010
Sparks fly at VMC meeting
Staff Reporter
| The general body discusses issues like ration cards and water meters |
VIJAYAWADA: The general body meeting of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation on Thursday saw sparks flying over issues such as ‘removal of names of pensioners’ and alleged attempts to install water meters once again.
While the morning session was dominated by the issue of ‘discrepancies in removal of bogus ration cards and payment of pensions through smart cards’, the evening session was dominated by the issue of water meters.
The meeting began with Mayor M.V. Ratna Bindu and corporators of all political parities paying floral tributes at the portrait of the Palagani Prabhakara Rao and his daughter Naga Vaishnavi outside the council hall.
The general body also condoled the deaths of former Union Minister P. Upendra and CPI (M) veteran leader Jyoti Basu.
Placards displayed
The CPI (M) activists displayed placards in the meeting hall opposing the proposed hike in oil prices, which was objected strongly by Ms. Ratna Bindu.
On the issue of ration cards and pensions, Municipal Commissioner G. Ravi Babu assured the corporators that any decision pertaining to weeding out of ‘bogus ration cards’ and removal of names of ‘ineligible beneficiaries of pensions’ would be taken only in Grama Sabhas (division level meetings). He said that municipal employees were not involved in the recent door-to-door survey for weeding out bogus cards and pensioners.
He admitted that the newly-introduced ‘smart card’ system for payment of pensions to the aged was creating ‘some practical difficulties’ because the staff of Axis Bank, to whom the job was entrusted, were new to the implementation of the system. “There are some problems with regard to delivering of cards too,” he said.
The Commissioner maintained that the door-to-door survey was conducted by the Civil Supplies Department and no one from the VMC participated in it. “Beneficiaries will have to attend Grama Sabha meetings and prove their identity so that their card will not be cancelled,” he explained.
The debate on the issue continued for nearly two hours with corproators of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Left parties accusing the State government of cancelling genuine cards to ease the burden on the exchequer. Refuting the charges, Sistla Ramalinga Murthy of the Congress entered into a wordy duel with them.
The debate on water meters ended inconclusively with the Mayor ending the day’s proceedings, even as CPI and CPI (M) corporators expressing fears over attempts to implement the system ‘through backdoor’ in the name of pilot projects.
