Finally, Jalandhar MC’s ad hoc panel formed after 7 months

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, June 30

After seven months, Mayor Jagdish Raja today formed an ad hoc committee on landscape and beautification. While Councillor Jasleen Sethi will be the chairman of the committee, Councillors Bimla Rani, Prabhdayal Bhagat and Tamanreet Kaur from Ward Nos. 13, 22 and 1, respectively, will be its members.

Committees Help carry out various civic works

As per to the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976, the MC has to constitute committees on water supply and sewerage disposal, building and roads and house tax assessment among others

These committees play a major role in various works of the civic body. Councillors are members of the committees and they can raise problems of residents with the respective branch

Recently, The Tribune had highlighted how the Municipal Corporation was without any ad hoc committee for the past seven months. There are around 14 ad hoc committees in the MC, whose tenure ended in January. Of all, only one has been formed since then.

It is reported that rest of the committees will also be formed soon. Sources said this time chairmen of some of the committees might get changed as they weren’t doing any work and had not held any meeting in the past one year.

Now, after the formation of an ad hoc committee, the rest of the councillors would also vie for the posts of chairman of the remaining committees.

Notably, it was after two years of the formation of the Congress-led MC (in 2018) that the ad hoc committees were formed in 2020. Ideally, the committees should have been formed right at the start of the MC term. The tenure of the ad hoc committee is one year, after which they are formed again.

According to the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976, the MC has to constitute committees on water supply and sewerage disposal, building and roads, house tax assessment, and other such committees. The Act also reads that each committee would elect one of its member as its chairman and another member as vice-chairman.

The committees play a major role in various works of the civic body. Councillors are members of the committees and they can raise problems of residents with the respective branch. Besides, even works of various branches get distributed and decentralised.

Several issues and major revelations took place by few chairmen of the ad hoc committees during the last two years.

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