Karnataka govt issues show cause notice to Belagavi corporation

The show cause notice was sent to Mayor Shobha Somanache at the Belagavi City Corporation’s address.

The Karnataka government has issued a show cause notice to the Belagavi City Corporation (BCC) for failing to adhere to its orders, such as the refusal to contribute to Indira canteens, reluctance to increase property tax rates, and other irregularities, officials familiar with the matter said on Saturday. The notice questions why the elected local body has not followed the government’s directives and why it should not be dismissed.

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The notice from the Urban Development ministry, served on September 21, lists the reasons for potential supersession of the civic body. It cites the BCC’s non-compliance with the instruction to contribute 70% of its funds to the total expenditure of Indira canteens, its refusal to raise property tax from the current 3% to 5% to generate revenue for its operations, and its appointment of 138 pourakarmiks (sanitation and street cleaning workers) without obtaining prior authorisation.

The show cause notice was sent to Mayor Shobha Somanache at the Belagavi City Corporation’s address.

Indira canteens are a flagship scheme of the Congress government providing food at a reasonable cost. The BCC on the other hand is governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

Mayor Shobha Somanache, in an interview with HT, said that she received the notice on October 12, nearly 20 days after it was posted. “I don’t know the reason for giving me the letter after about 20 days. The government has not mentioned the last date to reply to its notice,” she said.

Belagavi City Corporation Commissioner Ashok Dudaganti was unavailable and did not respond to calls to provide reasons for the delayed delivery of notice.

Belagavi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president and former MLA Sanjay Patil suspected a conspiracy behind the notice, suggesting that Congress may have issued it to disrupt the BJP’s rule in BCC. “People of Belagavi voted BJP to rule the city, no one can prevent us. We will face a judiciary battle against the government to retain the people’s mandate,” he said.

In a general body meeting held in August, Commissioner Dudaganti had informed the body about the government’s instructions regarding contributions to Indira canteens and the increase in property tax rates.

However, the general body declined to make the contributions, arguing that it would not be prudent to use local tax revenue for such schemes. They also refused to raise property tax, fearing it would burden the public further, forwarding their decision to the Urban Development Ministry. The government’s query about appointing pourakarmiks without prior approval remained unanswered.

Previously, the Belagavi City Corporation had been superseded in 2005 and 2011 for different reasons, including linguistic and political factors. This latest notice marks the third instance of a potential supersession of the BCC, this time for non-linguistic reasons.