Ghaziabad: Councillors suspend their round-the-clock agitation

On Sunday, the corporation officials issued a letter to the councillors saying minutes of the meeting will be issued on July 25 and made available to the mayor by 10am

Ghaziabad: The round-the-clock agitation launched by councillors of the municipal corporation ended on Sunday afternoon, after the Ghaziabad municipal corporation officials accepted their three demands in writing and stated that official minutes of the June 30 board meeting will be prepared and sent to the city mayor on July 25.

The June 30 board meeting was called by mayor Sunita Dayal, and the councillors with a resounding majority rejected the proposal of a property-tax hike as per the new structure, saying the tax will burden residents by multiple times. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The June 30 board meeting was called by mayor Sunita Dayal, and the councillors with a resounding majority rejected the proposal of a property-tax hike as per the new structure, saying the tax will burden residents by multiple times.

The councillors later started protesting on July 18 seeking minutes of the board meeting which had discussed the proposal for hiking property tax on June 30.

“Since the June 30 meeting, we have been demanding official minutes. But officials were not ready to give us. On Sunday, the officials arrived and accepted three demands. They also issued a letter to this effect. So, we suspended our agitation,” said Gaurav Solanki, councillor from ward 76 of Vaishali – 1.

On Sunday, the corporation officials issued a letter to the councillors saying minutes of the meeting will be issued on July 25 and made available to the mayor by 10am. The letter also stated that hiked property tax bills being sent to the mobile numbers of the taxpayers will be stopped till further order. Also, the rebate of 20% (applicable upon payment of taxes till July 31) will be extended till September 30, and its proposal will be put in the upcoming board meeting, it added.

“The Kanwar Yatra is going on well and officials and staff are engaged in different works along with the councillors. Another meeting was held today (on Sunday) with the councillors at the corporation headquarters. The secretary of the House was instructed to take immediate action on the three demands and issue a letter to the councillors,” municipal commissioner Vikramaditya Malik said in a statement on Sunday.

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.