The masterplan committee that is entrusted with the task of preparing the outline for the future growth of the city is facing a problem of absenteeism. A number of members nominated to the committee have been conspicuous by their absence. Documents procured by Newsline under the Right to Information Act for meetings from December 23,2009 to January 5,2011 shows that a number of members have not been present at the meetings. During this period 38 meetings were held. As per the documents,former Senior Town Planner of Punjab Jit Gupta who was nominated to the committee from its inception attended just six out of 38 meetings. The first meeting of the committee was held on December 23,2009. On May 28,2010,the UT Administration issued a notification about inclusion of new members in the committee. The notification listed 11 names as part of the committee. These included architect-cum-planner Christopher Charles Benninger,first Indian Chief Architect of Chandigarh M N Sharma and architect Madhu Sarin. However,apart from Sarin,who was present at the meetings,Beninger attended just one meeting,while Sharma attended two. While Benninger handed over his resignation soon after,Sharma did not attend themeetings. Benninger is a Pune-based architect,who has several awards to his credit. A spokesperson for Benninger informed that the architect excused himself from the committee as it lacked vision. Benninger was nominated by the governor and so offered his services. However,he tendered his resignation, said the spokesperson. Benninger was reportedly not entirely comfortable with the way things were progressing and so he withdrew. Meanwhile,Jit Gupta said that he has other responsibilities as he is the Director,College of Architecture,IET Bhaddal. I have to be present at the college. This does not leave me with much time to attend meetings of the committee that are held on working days. However,I am contributing to the preparation of the report that is being finalised, he said. The issue of the members not attending meetings was also taken up in one of the meetings of the masterplan committee held on December 8 last year. This was the 35th meeting of the committee. The minutes of the meeting state that the chief architect expressed concern about members not attending the meetings regularly. The members were of the opinion that the matter needs to be brought to the notice of the administration. During some of the meetings,special invitees have been there who have expressed their point of view on various aspects of the Master Plan. One of the members of the committee said not all members of the committee are present for the meetings. At times there are just four to five members who are present for the meetings. The meetings are,however,being held regularly, said the member. An official of the administration said the masterplanwas almost in the final stages and the consolidation is going on.
