The Hindu : MCH, standing panel at daggers drawn

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 12, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh-Hyderabad

MCH, standing panel at daggers drawn

By J.S. Ifthekhar

HYDERABAD April 11. An undeclared war appears to be on between officials in the MCH and the Majlis-dominated Standing Committee. The weekly meetings of the standing panel during the last two months have been anything but smooth. The relations have taken a nosedive ever since the Majlis corporator, Haroon Khan, took over the chairmanship of the Standing Committee.

At the centre of the controversy is the Corporation's insistence on hiking the tax on hoardings and rents for its shops at Hari Hara Kala Bhavan in Secunderabad and the Standing Committee's refusal to toe the official line. An air of mutual distrust prevails between the civic body and the standing committee members.

The officials believe the Standing Committee does not have the interest of the Corporation at heart and is not interested in improving its financial position while the latter think the top brass in the civic body is out to tarnish its image. The decision to enhance the advertisement tax and rentals are seen as a deliberate attempt to soil the image of the Majlis and bring disrepute to it. "The rents of shops have not been revised all these years and the Corporation has suddenly thought of hiking them now when the Majlis is heading the standing committee. The reasons are obvious,'' says Mr. Haroon Khan.

The Standing Committee has been gunning for the Officer on Special Duty, Charminar Pedestrianisation Programme, Syed Omer Jaleel, as he has taken an uncompromising stand on hiking the rent and ad tax. The committee is stated to have thought of bringing a no confidence resolution against the officer in the recently held general body meeting and this has further enraged the officials. "It is nothing but a threat. Nothing will come out of it. The final decision rests with the Government,'' a senior MCH official said.

The standing panel is for doubling the rents of shops from the present Rs. 4 to Rs. 8 per square feet while the MCH wants to increase it to Rs. 14. As per the Act, the Corporation can increase the rent by 10 per cent only. "The municipal complexes are built for public convenience and should not be treated as commercial ventures,'' Mr. Haroon Khan says. This view is contradicted by officials who feel the complexes are very much commercial establishments and intended to improve the revenue of the Corporation. "We are not hiking the rent of the people in the slums but of those who can afford to pay,'' say officials

The committee is accused of exceeding its agenda and straying into issues like town planning and administrative matters, which are not in its jurisdiction. The committee members, it is said, are under the false notion that they enjoy special powers when the Act vests all powers with the Commissioner. Officials, who attend the Standing Committee meetings are put off by the "rude'' behaviour and browbeating tactics of some members who are bent on pursuing their personal agenda. On more than one occasion the BJP and TDP members are stated to have objected to attempts by some Majlis members to discuss issues unlisted in the agenda.

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