More staff for implementing development schemes at Coimbatore Corporation
Coimbatore Mayor appeals to Stalin for more staff;
The Coimbatore Corporation has requested the Government to provide more staff for implementing development schemes at the desired pace. Mayor R. Venkatachalam presented a memorandum containing this appeal to Minister for Local Administration M.K. Stalin at Chennai on 1st March.
The Mayor stated in it that the Corporation had 138 vacancies in various departments. But, the orders issued by the Commissionerate of Municipal Administration on February 12 provided for filling up only five vacancies in the engineering wing.
More workers were needed in this wing itself as the Corporation had to carry out a number of road, water supply and drainage works. Besides these routine works, the Corporation was set to implement major infrastructure schemes under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. This called for more staff in every wing that would be involved in the projects, especially in the engineering department.
The memorandum pointed out that the Corporation would not be in a position to implement schemes quickly.
The Mayor told The Hindu that there was pressure on the Corporation to conduct survey and submit proposals for schemes under the mission to the Central Government by March 31 and also to simultaneously carry out routine works relating to basic amenities.
Corporation sources admitted that there were complaints from the Councillors that even the routine works were affected because of every department being asked to focus on the mission schemes, as they had to be cleared soon for grants from Central and State Governments.
Some councillors were also of the opinion that a separate wing should be created to implement the scheme under the mission. A consultant had even mooted a separate wing for solid waste management. The wing should have an Executive Engineer, two Assistant Executive Engineers, four Assistant Engineers and Sanitary Officers, 24 Sanitary Inspectors and 72 Sanitary Supervisors. In such a situation, the Corporation wanted at least all existing vacancies filled.
The Mayor also requested in the memorandum that the Government exempt some sites in unapproved layouts from the Land Ceiling Act.
Copies of the memorandum were submitted to Secretary of Municipal Administration and Water Supply K. Dheenabandhu and Commissioner of Municipal Administration Niranjan Mardi. (These sites, that had been sold to residents, were identified a few months ago as those belonging to the Government. The administration had asked the Corporation not to regularise these sites as they had been acquired by the Government.)
