Constitute ward sabhas in urban localities: Activists

Coimbatore: Chennai-based Satta Panchayat Iyakkam, a social organization, on Monday petitioned the district administration to constitute ward sabhas in urban localities in the state.
Members of the organization met collector K Rajamani and submitted the petition. In the petition, the members urged the state government to introduce rules pending since 2010 when the Tamil Nadu Municipal Act 1920 was amended to constitute ward sabhas.
They said formation of ward sabhas would solve local issues and reduce corruption.
Activist M S Anandham said, “Though the amendment came in 2010, rules required to organize such meetings haven’t been framed for the past nine years. We are petitioning collectors in all the districts to immediately notify the rules and conduct ward sabhas.”
“We need ward sabhas to increase people participation in local decisions. If a ward sabha, including a ward councilor, a few members of the public and corporation representatives exist, they will ensure a locality gets only schemes it requires and not get burdened with unnecessary schemes like unnecessary road work, water work etc.,” Anandham said.
“The sabha should also get access to some of the taxes collected by the state and central governments so that it can execute certain necessary projects on their own under public monitoring, instead of constantly having to petition their mayor or collector for simple civic requirements,” another activist Thandavamoorthy said.
The activists said a ward sabha with members of the public will also prevent corruption from taking place in a large-scale because they can verify if a project has been completed or not. “At present, several people siphon off funds sanctioned for a project,” he said.