More than a decade after it was inaugurated, the two-storey building of the Vellore Municipal Corporation office on Infantry Road gets a new lease of life with landscaping, the fixing of portraits of key leaders from the region and the Chief Ministers since Independence and a coat of paint as part of the work to welcome the newly elected councillors. The work will be completed by March 1 as the newly elected ward members will take the oath in the spacious council hall on the ground floor on March 2. Interestingly, the building was inaugurated on December 18, 2010, by M.K. Stalin, then the Deputy Chief Minister.
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In the recent elections to the Vellore Corporation which has 60 wards, the DMK won 44 wards, securing a majority after many years. “Several delayed projects like Smart City and underground drainage will be fast-tracked. The new council will address long- pending civic issues urgently,” said Vellore MLA P. Karthikeyan, who was the first Mayor in 2008. Tucked between the Collector’s bungalow and the fort, the building was constructed at a cost of ₹7 crore in 2010 , two years after the civic body was upgraded as a Corporation in August, 2008. Till then, the civic body had been functioning from a dilapidated building near the fort for a century and a half.
The two-storey building has a basement for parking. The ground floor houses the chambers of the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor, the council meeting hall, the information centre and the tax collection centre. The first floor has the chamber of the Commissioner and rooms for other officials and conference halls.
Section offices are accommodated on the second floor. “In the air-conditioned council hall, old furniture is replaced with the new pieces. Individual mikes are also provided for ward members. The Mayor’s desk is also spruced up,” Commissioner P. Ashok Kumar told The Hindu. The restoration work includes polishing of the wooden furniture, cupboards and floors; installation of portraits of prominent personalities from the region and Chief Ministers since independence; landscaping; purified water supply; and a coat of paint. Separate desks for the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor and the Municipal Commissioner are also being set up in the council hall. Special attention is paid to the attire of the Mayor and the six-foot-tall silver stick (‘sengol’ ) that will be held by the Mayor during the council meetings. The new Mayor will wear the imposing black gown, a custom followed since British times, and a 140-sovereign gold chain for the swearing-in ceremony. He also wears it for monthly council meetings.
But, for the arrival of VIPs like the President, the Vice-president, the Prime Minister, the Central Ministers, the Governor, the Chief Minister and on important occasions, the Mayor wears a maroon- coloured gown as a mark of respect. The gowns are made of velvet cloth. “The gown was designed in two different colours to break the monotony,” the Commissioner said.