PCMC corporators demand termination of citizens8217; groups

However, corporators do not seem to be pleased with these developments. They feel that the groups take all the 8220;credit8221; whenever any civic problem is solved. Discomforted by the so-called parallel working of the groups vis-a-vis the civic general body, the corporators have recommended that the stake holder groups be immediately dissolved.

So much so that the civic general body meeting held last Friday witnessed a heated discussion on the issue 8212; which came up during a debate on the formation of a civic committee to improve the functioning of the Yeshwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital. While the issue on the agenda pertained onlyto giving a formal approval to the formation of the committee, Congress corporator Shamim Pathan came down heavily on civic groups, and wanted to know whether the necessary approval for their formation had been given at the civic general body meeting.

Deputy municipal commissioner R B Konde then replied that the groups had been formed in 1995 when PCMC was selected for the model communities development programme by the United Nations. The same groups were later transformed into citizens8217; stake holder groups so that a better understanding of the local problems could be obtained, he said.

The corporators then alleged that the groups unnecessarily interfered in the working of the civic administration and recommended that their functioning be discontinued with immediate effect. Comprehending the mood of the corporators, mayor Hanumanth Bhosale said that the issue would be looked into soon.

Currently, there is a workforce of 100 people each in the four stake holder groups at each of the four divisional wardoffice level. The civic ward office conducts a meeting every month, while a meeting of all the groups is held at the main administrative building once in three months. The groups are provided all the information regarding the ongoing civic works, and copies of resolutions of the civic general body meetings are also provided.But the members of the groups have not been given any rights by the civic administration. However the corporators have charged that the persons in the groups put pressure on the civic administration to carry out a quot;particular workquot; and even indulge in the transfers of civic employees. Meanwhile, the citizens8217; groups, after learning about the corporators objection, decided to meet the municipal commissioner and urge him to allow them to continue with their work.