DPC not cooperating with city Corporation: Mayor

Mayor K. Chandrika has described reports suggesting non-performance by the city Corporation as “fabricated”. The Mayor accused the District Planning Committee (DPC) of “not cooperating” with the civic body in preparing and implementing the annual Plan.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, she alleged that certain vested interests were trying to spread false information about the functioning of the Corporation, particularly with regard to implementation of the annual Plan.

Dismissing reports accusing the civic body of failing to get approval for the Plan at the last DPC meeting, she said the delay in submitting sector-wise allocation for development works was owing to the technical hitch in the software provided by the government for data entry and shortage of manpower.

‘Highest in State’

The Corporation had to prepare project reports of 1,964 programmes, which is the highest taken up by any civic body in the State, she said

“It’s a voluminous task. But we have completed a major portion of the work in spite of shortage of manpower. Similarly, the engineering wing has vetted 250 projects. The Plan would be submitted for approval at the next DPC meeting,” she said.

The DPC, instead of extending support to the civic body, had adopted a stance of non-cooperation in preparing and implementing its annual Plan.

The practice followed in the past was to approve the annual Plan of Corporations after endorsing the Plan of Municipalities and panchayats. However, this method was given a go-by and instead the Corporation’s Plan was clubbed with that of panchayats for approval, she said. The change in schedule was made with ulterior motives, she alleged.

The Mayor urged the government to give more time to the Corporation to submit its annual Plan before the DPC and to take steps in improving the efficiency of the software provided for data entry.