The Kochi Corporation Council meeting on Thursday (December 5) had to be dismissed abruptly in the wake of the din created by the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) demanding that standing committee chairpersons P.R. Ranish and J. Sanilmon facing corruption allegations step down and face investigation.
After waiting in futile for a while for the Opposition protest to die down, Mayor M. Anilkumar eventually declared the agenda for the day as passed and dismissed the meeting. Various road development projects, the development of the Brahmapuram solid waste treatment plant, and filling vacancies of junior health inspectors were among the agenda that got approved without any discussion. This was the second time that the council meeting had to be called off abruptly in the face of Opposition protests in recent times.
The Mayor on Wednesday (December 4) ordered the suspension of a Revenue inspector at the Corporation’s Vyttila zonal office and also a Vigilance inquiry based on an allegation by Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] councillor P.S. Viju. The allegation was that the officer had demanded a bribe running into lakhs in the name of development standing committee chairman Mr. Ranish and town planning committee chairperson Mr. Sanilmon to issue completion and occupancy certificates for buildings and regularise buildings with unauthorised numbers.
Mr. Anilkumar dubbed the Opposition protest as needless. He said that he had ordered a Vigilance probe following a three-hour discussion on Wednesday (December 4) without even waiting for the Opposition’s demand. Mr. Anilkumar said that disrupting the council even before measures could be initiated on the order was inappropriate.
However, Antony Kureethara, Congress leader in the council, accused the Mayor of not taking action against the standing committee chairpersons despite a Left Democratic Front (LDF) councillor himself raising the bogey of corruption against them. The Mayor’s directive to approach the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau in the event of any Corporation official demanding a bribe was a clear indication that he had no control over officials, the Opposition leader alleged.
Mr. Kureethara and UDF parliamentary party leader M.G. Aristotle demanded that the chairpersons concerned step down and face investigation. The Opposition also staged a protest at the entrance to the Corporation office.
Meanwhile, CPI(M) councillor M.H.M. Ashraf resigned from the town planning committee in protest against the Mayor’s order to declare a Vigilance probe and thus put the needle of suspicion on the committee. He alleged that the Mayor’s action reeked of an attempt to protect a few and hide his ineptitude.
Secretary transferred
Meanwhile, Corporation Secretary V. Chelsasini was transferred and posted as General Administration Deputy Secretary. She had assumed charge as Secretary last December. Though she had received the order, the date of her exit as Secretary remained yet to be decided. Mr. Anilkumar hailed the efficiency of the departing Secretary including in increasing the Corporation’s revenue.
Published – December 05, 2024 08:32 pm IST
