The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation House meeting, scheduled for 22 August 2024, was abruptly cancelled at the eleventh hour, allegedly due to a tiff between councillors from the INDIA bloc and Mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor over a contentious public utility agenda. The cancellation has left 26 critical development agendas unresolved, further delaying key decisions crucial for the city’s progress.
The disagreement reportedly stemmed from stringent rules concerning public toilets in parks and markets, which are largely managed by Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and Market Welfare Associations (MWAs), entities often backed by councillors. The primary points of contention included a penalty clause for unclean toilets or violations of norms and the requirement to maintain accurate records of staff employed at each facility. The Municipal Corporation had proposed amendments to these clauses following complaints about discrepancies in staffing records, where fewer workers were employed than recorded. Additionally, there was a proposal to pay workers at DC rates rather than the current, lower labour rates.
The public/community toilets issue was included in the supplementary agenda released yesterday, having been presented to a group of councillors and discussed in the Finance and Contract Committee (F&CC) meeting. However, during a pre-house meeting of the INDIA bloc’s two alliance partners, some councillors questioned the Mayor on why the agenda was being pushed without consulting the RWAs and MWAs. The disagreement reportedly escalated, leading to a verbal spat between the councillors and the Mayor, ultimately resulting in the meeting’s cancellation late last night.
The Municipal Corporation issued a brief statement at 6:30 am today, announcing the postponement of the meeting but did not provide a reason for the last-minute cancellation.
Kanwarjit Singh Rana, Leader of the Opposition and BJP councillor, criticised the INDIA bloc, stating, “Due to a rift between Congress and AAP councillors with the Mayor, the House meeting was cancelled. Their petty politics have once again stalled the city’s development.”
However, AAP-Congress councillors refuted these claims, with Congress councillor Taruna Mehta attributing the cancellation to the Mayor’s health issues, stating, “The meeting was postponed because the Mayor had some health problems, specifically cervical pain.”
Responding to the controversy, Mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor said, “I experienced severe chest pain last night, which led to the cancellation of the meeting. If the agenda item was an issue, I would not have listed it in the first place.”
As the political wrangling continues, the delay in the House meeting has put crucial development decisions on hold, raising concerns about the timely execution of essential projects in Chandigarh.
