The general body of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) on Saturday discussed at length the observations made by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the performance of the VMC in its report for the year ending March 31, 2009.
During the discussion on a proposal tabled by CPI (M) corporator Donepudi Kasinath, corporators of the Opposition parties held the ruling Congress responsible for the remarks made by the CAG. Pointing to the objections made in respect of expenditure incurred by the VMC under various heads, CPI floor leader Donepudi Sankar said the situation arose only due to the negligent attitude of the ruling party towards expenditure. Corporators of the TDP and the CPI (M) too expressed a similar opinion.
Even as Samanthapudi Narasaraju of the Congress tried to explain about the report, his party's another senior member Sistla Ramalinga Murthy said many “technical issues” were involved in the CAG report and these could be explained only by the officials. The officials maintained that the report will have to be studied thoroughly to understand the “technicalities”.
Delay in works
The delay in completion of engineering works in many divisions too came up for discussion, as several corporators explained in detail the difficulties that the people of their respective divisions were facing. Expressing unhappiness over the inordinate delay, the corporators sought an explanation from the authorities. Mayor M.V. Ratna Bindu asked Commissioner G. Ravi Babu to ensure that the works were completed at the earliest.
Proposal deferred
A proposal made for renovation of council hall was deferred for the next meeting after many corporators opined that the time was not right to spend huge money. Issues like civic problems in hill areas, basic amenities in VMC-run schools, drinking water, drainage and lighting problems in residential areas and welfare of permanent and temporary employees of the VMC were discussed on the second and concluding day of the meeting.
The general body passed a resolution approving the revised fees for issuing trade licences.
Dasari Narayana Sastry, a resident of Machavaram down, donated Rs. 5 lakh to the VMC for naming the primary school run by the VMC at Gunadala as ‘Dasari Venkata Giridhara Kumar-Avanthi Municipal Corporation Primary School.' Mr. Sastry handed over the cheque to Mr. Ravi Babu.
