Two months after it passed a Bill to reintroduce indirect elections for the post of Mayor of Municipal Corporations, the AIADMK government on Monday introduced another Bill in the Assembly to empower councillors to elect the chairpersons in all local bodies in the State.
The Statements of Objects and Reasons of the Bill to amend the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act, 1920, introduced in the House by Municipal Administration Minister S.P. Velumani stated, “It has been brought to the notice of the government that in certain circumstances, the chairmen do not get the cooperation of councillors and vice-versa and thereby, there have been impediments in the proceedings of councils and to arrive at consensus in passing resolutions to provide civic services to the public as both the chairmen and the councillors are elected directly.”
The Bill referred the recent enactment of Tamil Nadu Municipal Corporation Laws (Amendment) Act, 2016 and stated, “In order to have a uniform election procedures in all the urban local bodies in the State, the government has decided to elect the Chairman of the Municipalities and Town Panchayats also indirectly by the councillors or members from among themselves, as the case may be.”
Only in June this year, the State government had introduced and eventually passed a Bill that scrapped the direct election of Mayors in Municipal Corporations and enabled councillors to elected one of them as Mayor for the Municipal Corporation.
Another Bill introduced in the House by the Minister was intended to enhance the monetary powers of the Council of Municipal Administration for sanction of estimates. The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill stated it was taking into account of the huge outlay of the schemes implemented by the Municipal Corporations, the escalation of cost of construction materials, the rate of wholesale price index, the general inflation and the need for expediting the developmental works.
The government has decided to accept the proposal of the Director of Municipal Administration to amend the Madurai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1971 and the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation Act, 1981 suitably, the Bill added. Both the Bills are expected to be passed in the ongoing Assembly session.
