PMC says no irregularities in Sweekrut; NCM to file contempt petition

PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has claimed that no irregularities have occurred during the induction process of Sweekrut Non-government organisation

PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has claimed that no irregularities have occurred during the induction process of Sweekrut Non-government organisation (NGO) members on the civic body’s panel.

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It is under the PMC’s prerogative to appoint representatives of the NGO and social organisations on ward committees of PMC. However, the PMC has to abide by the rules and regulations that states that no member appointed should be associated with any political outfit.

Suresh Jagtap, joint commissioner of the PMC and the nodal officer in the process of inducting the Sweekrut members said, “We have not done any irregularities while inducting any of the members. All the representatives who were inducted, explicitly stated in an affidavit that they have no affiliation to any of the political outfits in the city. This makes it clear that there was no violation of the mandatory norms.”

According to Jagtap, the affidavit also states, that in the event of comprehensive due diligence if directed by the court, the representative may be disqualified if found to have any affiliation with any political party.

Currently, there are a total of 45 members inducted by the PMC for the 15 ward committees. There are three members each per ward committee.

Refuting PMC’s claims, the city based organisation Nagrik Chetna Manch (NCM) has urged the civic body to declare the entire process of appointment process as null and void.

Qaneez Sukhrani, secretary, NCM said, “The PMC statements clearly exhibit that the civic body is denying the facts like Bhartiya Janata Party’s newsletters and Facebook pages that clearly indicates direct affiliations of some of the members with the party. These are the clear grounds on which the entire induction process should be declared null and void”

Citing an example of violation, Sukhrani said, “For the PMC to declare this process as null and void just one example is sufficient.”

Responding to Sukhrani’s claim, Jagtap said, “The entire process has been in the public domain and nothing is kept off the books. Having said so, Sukhrani has the rights to file a contempt petition after which the court should disqualify the representatives having political affiliations. The PMC is committed to abiding the legal process.”

I will be filling a contempt petition shortly which will expose the entire issue and PMC’s wrong doings in the process, said Sukhrani