UT admin fails to reconstitute advisory council

The council was first constituted in 2007 with an objective to advise the administration on developmental issues of the city and policy matters. Even last time when the term of the council had expired on  March 31, 2013, the administration took more than seven months to reconstitute it on November 11,  2013.

According to the guidelines, members of the council from different sections of the society are nominated by the UT administrator. The total number of members cannot be more than 60. The last council had 34 members, including local MP Kirron Kher, local BJP chief Sanjay Tandon, BJP leader Satya Pal Jain, Federation of Sector Federation of Sector Welfare Associations Chandigarh (FOSWAC) chairman Baljinder Singh Bittu and Chandigarh Beopar Mandal (CBM) president Charanjiv Singh.

There are a total of nine standing committees of the council for various sectors namely transport, urban planning, health, urban development, environment, education, law and order and sports.

Sanjay Tandon told The Chandigarh Newsline that the ACC was constituted for the betterment of the city. He stated that the council should be reconstituted at the earliest and regular meetings should be held. “The meetings of the council will help the administration in knowing what residents want and work accordingly,” said Tandon.
Former local MP Satyapal Jain said, “Interaction with different stakeholders is always beneficial.”

Despite repeated attempts, UT home secretary Anurag Aggarwal was not available for comments.

Irregular meetings

The administration has also failed to hold regular meetings of the council. Since its inception in 2007, only seven meetings have been held.

The last meeting, which was marred by a controversy, was held on June 30 last year to discuss the Chandigarh Master Plan 2031. Prior to that, the  meeting of the council was held on November 30, 2012. The first term — from February 2, 2007 to February 2, 2009 — of the council expired without even holding a single meeting.

Recently, the home department had started the process of convening meeting of the council by seeking suggestions for agenda from the members around four months back, but in vain.