Uttam: arbitrary sanction of municipal funds by collector

There is no transparency in release of funds, says Congress leader

January 23, 2021 11:51 pm | Updated 11:51 pm IST - SURYAPET

Nalgonda MP and TPCC chief N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Saturday alleged that District Collector T. Vinay Krishna Reddy has been sanctioning funds in an arbitrary manner and misusing Section 26 of the Municipal Act.

‘Politicisation’

In what he described as ‘politicisation of administration’, Mr. Uttam, who was in Suryapet to attend the municipal general body meet, said, “District Collectors are sanctioning funds without following the rule book in an arbitrary manner to just please their political bosses.”

According to the provision he cited, Section 26 of the Telangana Municipalities Act, 2019, deals with ‘empowering the chairperson with certain emergency powers’.

“The chairperson can direct the execution of any work or the doing of any act in anticipation of Council sanction with the approval of the District Collector when there is such emergency which is necessary for the service or safety of the public, and direct that the expense of such work be paid from municipal fund and report the action taken to the Council at its next meeting.” He said, “Out of the 40 proposals, 30 were sanctioned under Section 26, which is not fair.”

Media meet

Meanwhile, he spoke to the media outside the municipal hall and condemned the policy of ‘no entry for mediapersons’ into the meeting hall by the ruling body.

He reiterated that as the Nalgonda MP, he was striving for development of his constituency, and recently, got ₹11 crore sanctioned for a 400 kv substation for Suryapet.

“However, there is no transparency in release and spending of funds by local administration, and the elected local body representatives are also not having a say in the way the funds are spent,” the Congress leader alleged.

‘Speak up’

The Congress chief also urged councillors to speak up against irregularities in sanction of funds, and for their rights in allocation of funds for the development of respective wards.

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