Former mayor alleges bias in functioning of ward committees

“They simply tell the people that since the particular work was not taken up and approved by the ward committee,there was no question of doing it,” said Patel. According to him,the problem is more acute in the west zone but persists with more or less intensity in other zones as well.

There is nothing wrong with the concept,which is actually a good one. But councillors politicising things and ignoring areas that voted the rival party mar the very objective of having a ward committee,he said.

“As representatives of the people,it is our duty to cater to the needs of our wards without any political discrimination. Officials should not be in the awe of ruling councillors while acting on proposals,” Patel added. He went on to say that the committees are to facilitate development,not to stall it on political basis.

Municipal commissioner I P Gautam,however,ruled out any bias in taking up projects. He said that 10,000 projects,which constitute 70 per cent of the AMC’s total projects,have been prioritised and approved by the 55 ward committees in last three years. Of these,only one complaint of political bias was received from the west zone.

It is alleged that since all councillors belonged to one party,a particular work was not taken up,he said,adding: “But the same can be said of the ward where all three councillors belong to the rival party…the system has worked well and it cannot be blamed for some isolated cases,which can be resolved provided they are brought to my notice.

He said that no system can be completely foolproof and one should not complain if something is not done out of turn. Such complaints are expected from politically ignored quarters,by and large,people have not complained so far,he said.

Also,BJP leader Dr Kamlesh Patel said there was no problem,political or otherwise,in the committees’ functioning. “Officials don’t play mischief as being alleged. They only insist that the councillors should first attain unanimity among themselves before coming up with proposals and priorities,” he said.