Area Sabha, Ward Panel: Councillors still in dark

CHENNAI: Around 75% of the 110 councillors, who responded to a survey, said they were unaware of Area Sabha or Ward Committee (as prescribed in the 2010 Act).  According to the recently-notified Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies (Ward Committee and Area Sabha) Rules, 2022, the councillors are chairpersons and convenors of Ward Committees and the Area Sabhas.

For the survey, Chennai-based citizens collective ‘Voice of People’ attempted to contact all 200 councillors of Chennai Corporation earlier this month, of which 110 responded. “We wanted to know if the intent of the government (in notifying the rules) translated to the ground. From the survey, we see that it has not. The councillors were very invested and had plenty of queries. This is a lapse on the part of the State as it has failed to coordinate with them and provide them with information,” said Charu Govindan, coordinator of Voice of People.

The organisation sought an amendment of the notified rules and urged the government to consult the public before implementation and create awareness among people and their elected representatives.
“Almost 75% of our councillors weren’t even aware of the name ‘Area Sabha’. Though they said they knew about ‘Ward Committee’, they only meant the meeting being conducted at zonal levels, with the ward councillors as members. They didn’t know anything about the Ward Committee as prescribed in the 2010 Act,” the survey report released on Monday said.

“When we briefed them about these platforms, especially relating them to ‘Grama Sabha’, many of them asked us questions about their composition, functions, area delimitations, etc,” the report said. The 25% of the councillors who already knew about the platforms said they had read about them in media; very few said they had heard about them in one of the initial meetings held at Ripon Building. Most of the councillors said having such platforms, which bring the councillor, officials and people together will help them work more efficiently.