Ghaziabad civic staff stage protest against councillors’ sit-in over meet minutes

The staff called on the councillors to end their sit-in and instead demand the minutes of the June 30 board meeting only after the pilgrimage concludes

In a fresh development to the ongoing protest by councillors at the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) headquarters, a group of 100-150 on-duty staffers staged a sit-in of their own on Saturday morning—right next to the councillors’ protest site at Navyug Market.

Ghaziabad civic staff stage protest against councillors’ sit-in over meet minutes

The staff, deployed across various departments including those assigned Kanwar Yatra duties, called on the councillors to end their sit-in and instead demand the minutes of the June 30 board meeting only after the pilgrimage concludes.

The councillors had begun their protest on Friday morning, alleging deliberate delay by officials in issuing the official minutes of the board meeting where a proposed property tax hike was rejected. The sit-in continued overnight and into Saturday.

“It is our legal demand to get the official minutes of the meeting, and this is being delayed deliberately,” said Gaurav Solanki, councillor from ward 76 (Vaishali-1). “Saturday morning, about 100-150 corporation staff arrived at our sit-in site and started protesting. They asked us to end the protest and seek the official minutes after the Kanwar Yatra. These staffers were deployed for duty and have now gone on protest instead, which we believe is an orchestrated attempt to dislodge us.”

The property tax hike, introduced under a revised structure, was rejected by the House with a majority during the June 30 board meeting convened by Mayor Sunita Dayal. But the official minutes confirming the rejection have not been released, prompting several councillors and former councillors to demand immediate disclosure. A public interest litigation filed by three former councillors against the proposed hike is pending in the Allahabad High Court, with the next hearing on July 29.

“The staff’s protest is affecting the functioning of the corporation and also disrupting Kanwar Yatra duties. No action is being taken by officials to send them back to work,” said Himanshu Sharma, councillor from ward 75 (Rajendra Nagar – 1). “They have no authority to ask elected representatives to end a protest or delay our demand.”

Ravindra Kumar, head of the ‘Nagar Nigam Karmchari Sangh’ and leading the staff protest, declined to comment on the impact of their sit-in on civic operations, saying only, “We are just requesting the councillors to end their sit-in, as it is affecting our work.”

When contacted, additional municipal commissioner Jung Bahadur Yadav said the official minutes would be prepared only after the Kanwar Yatra period. On the issue of protesting staff, additional commissioner Avnindra Kumar said, “Work was not affected due to the protest by staff,” but declined to comment on any disciplinary action.