Chandigarh Congress councillors demands withdrawal of table agendas

The Congress president expressed hope that the Chandigarh administrator and the MC commissioner will withdraw the disputed table agendas

Amid the controversy surrounding table agenda worth ₹227 crore, Chandigarh Congress held a meeting of its councillors on Thursday where it was decided that these proposals should be withdrawn and placed before the next House meeting in accordance with the rules, after detailed discussion.

The Congress president said, policy matters and major project-related agendas should be made available to councillors at least 72 hours in advance, enabling elected representatives to examine and deliberate upon them seriously. (HT File)

Congress president HS Lucky claimed it was their party that raised several important proposals, including the ₹227 crore financial agenda, the proposal for replacement of the pipeline related to Kajauli Waterworks, the agenda concerning the garbage plant, and the proposal related to the Sector-34 Mela Ground.

The Congress president expressed hope that the Chandigarh administrator and the MC commissioner will withdraw the disputed table agendas and place them before the next House meeting in accordance with the rules.

Congress said that financial proposals involving hundreds of crores of rupees and decisions having long-term implications for the city cannot be brought before the House at the last minute as table agendas and passed without adequate scrutiny and discussion. Such a practice is neither transparent nor consistent with democratic procedure.

Lucky said, the municipal corporation (MC) House is not a rubber stamp for any government or ruling party. Councillors must be given adequate time to study documents, seek clarifications from officials and deliberate in the public interest on proposals involving hundreds of crores of rupees.

He said that in normal circumstances, policy matters and major project-related agendas should be made available to councillors at least 72 hours in advance, enabling elected representatives to examine and deliberate upon them seriously. Table agendas should be brought only in exceptional and genuinely urgent circumstances, and even then, councillors must be provided a reasonable opportunity for discussion and consideration.