Chandigarh MC asks councillors to submit written queries 7 days in advance

Sandeep Rana

Chandigarh, March 22

All 35 elected councillors and MP, an ex officio member, were asked to give the questions they wanted to ask in writing seven days before the March 29 MC House meeting.

This was not mentioned in notices sent to these elected representatives for the MC House meetings earlier. Now, the MC has started this practice for zero hour.

“As per Section 64 of the Punjab MC Act, 1994, as extended to Chandigarh, a councillor may ask a question on any matter related to the corporation during the first half of the meeting. You are requested to give your questions in writing to the Secretary seven days prior to the meeting,” read the notice sent to the councillors and the MP.

This has taken several councillors by surprise. “It is wrong to ask us to give questions in writing. We have to raise several issues faced by residents. How can they put such restrictions? We are not allowed to speak in the House meetings. The situation is so bad that when we asked a question in the last House meeting, they played the national anthem and ended the meeting,” claimed Congress councillor Sachin Galav.

AAP councillor Taruna Mehta said, “I think they want the councillors to remain confused so that they can evade our questions. There could be several things which we may have to raise during the ongoing meeting. In the last meeting, the councillors were asked to limit themselves to three questions per person, citing the law.”

BJP councillor Saurabh Joshi, however, said, “Most councillors are first-timers and there are times when a councilor asks a question which had already been replied to. With the new practice, the MC will be able to prepare the reply and arrange the related data. Sometimes, officers do not have answer to every query and data ready.”

Mayor Sarabjit Kaur said, “This provision is only for specific questions for which the councillors are seeking detailed replies.” However, the Mayor claimed that councillors could ask other questions as well.