E-Paper
‘Passed without discussion’: Chandigarh MC chief orders fact-finding report into ₹227-crore table agenda
Amid the hue and cry, mayor Saurabh Joshi on Wednesday requested the MC commissioner to withdraw the agenda and bring it afresh in the next House meeting for discussion
Amid furore over a ₹227-crore table agenda passed without discussion during the July 31 municipal corporation (MC) General House meeting, MC commissioner Amit Kumar, has ordered a fact-finding report into the matter.
The agenda, related to the proposed replacement of old water pipelines from Kajauli water works to Sector-39 water works, had run into a controversy after it emerged that the project, which is set to cost nearly one-third of the total grant-in-aid received by the civic body this year, was sneaked in with 15 other table agendas and passed in one go.
What raised suspicion was the fact that the expenditure was not written along with the subject of this agenda as is the norm with all other agendas. Councillors across party lines had also claimed that the agendas were not provided to them 72 hours in advance, and passed hurriedly in the evening when some of them had left for the day.
Amid the hue and cry, mayor Saurabh Joshi on Wednesday requested the MC commissioner to withdraw the agenda and bring it afresh in the next House meeting for discussion.
Special commissioner Harpreet Singh Sudan will be preparing the report to ascertain the facts relating to the agenda.
The commissioner said the fact-finding exercise is aimed at ensuring transparency, procedural compliance and factual clarity. He added that proposals involving substantial public expenditure should be processed with complete disclosure of relevant information to facilitate informed decision-making.
