GS Paul
Amritsar, January 19
For a change, the Amritsar Municipal Corporation (MC) has scheduled its last meeting of the General House in a four-star hotel tomorrow. The move has invited the ire of Aam Aadmi Party MLA (North) Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh.
The invitation was sent to all MLAs, who are ex-officio members of the MC House. The meeting is to be held in the hotel at 1 pm.
Letter sent to mc commissioner
- On receiving the invitation, Kunwar Vijay Pratap shot off a letter to MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi raising his strong objection over the choice of venue. “You being a responsible member of the All India Services, being posted as Commissioner of Municipal Corporation, should adhere to your constitutional obligations,” he wrote.
Kunwar Vijay Partap said the MC has a well facilitated venue in the posh Ranjit Avenue area, yet it was inappropriate and a matter of great embarrassment that such an auspicious official meeting of the MC’s General House has been planned in a hotel basement.
“AAP is a progressive national party and it will send a wrong signal to the people if an official meeting is organised in hotels,” he said.
On receiving the invitation, Kunwar Vijay Pratap shot off a letter to MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi raising his strong objection over the choice of venue. “You being a responsible member of the All India Services, being posted as Commissioner of Municipal Corporation, should adhere to your constitutional obligations,” he wrote.
Kunwar Vijay Pratap wrote, “We all being the followers of the ideals of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar should abide by the basic ideals and conventions of the Constitution of India, especially related to 73rd and 74th amendments related to local bodies.”
Ironically, the invitations were sent under the signature of Municipal Corporation Commissioner only, yet he stated that it was Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu’s decision to hold it in the hotel in his personal capacity. “The House meeting is chaired by the Mayor only and it was his choice to plan the meeting in a hotel as he wanted to host a lunch for the members of the House. There would be no burden on the MC exchequer,” he said.
When asked about the legal sanctity of the House meeting, he said, “There was seldom any official agenda left. Still, I will look into the matter,” he said.
On the other hand, Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu said that constitutionally, there was never any binding that the official meeting could not be held outside the official premises. “What’s wrong in it if I have invited my colleagues in my personal capacity at the hotel as a farewell get-together? So, we also intimated the officials that if there was any pending matter, that could be deliberated upon there only. Likewise, the minutes of the meeting would be recorded,” he said.
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