Chandigarh MC plans to live-stream General House meetings

The local Municipal Corporation is considering to start live streaming of the proceedings of its General House meetings.

A proposal in this regard was prepared after Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla wrote a letter to Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria on October 5 against four opposition councillors, including Senior Deputy Mayor Jasbir Singh Bunty and Deputy Mayor Taruna Mehta. She had alleged gross misconduct, flagrant disruption and hooliganism on their part during the last MC General House meeting, which was held on September 30. The meeting had witnessed uproar after Congress and AAP councillors allegedly tore up the pages of minutes of the previous House meeting.

Amid the pandemonium, the Mayor ordered eviction of the Senior Deputy Mayor, the Deputy Mayor, AAP councillor Prem Lata and Congress councillor Sachin Galav from the House. The marshals had a tough time removing all suspended councillors. The high drama continued for over half an hour as opposition councillors did not allow removal of the suspended colleagues.

The Mayor alleged that the conduct of four councillors was nothing short of disgraceful, constituting a calculated and pre-planned attempt to undermine the dignity and functioning of the democratic body. She said the resultant scuffle and chaotic confrontation involving the marshals and the councillors, including physical pushing, brought shame upon the House, eroding its dignity.

The MC recently issued a tender for providing video recording system, remote display and online streaming of the proceedings of General House meetings for the year 2025-2026. Under the project, the selected firm will provide the whole set-up, including operators, and it would have to be made ready a day before the scheduled meeting, failing which a penalty of Rs 2,000 per meeting would be imposed.

Meanwhile, the MC has decided to hold its next meeting on November 3. The Mayor said people of Chandigarh would now see the whole proceedings and judge who were obstructing the development of the city.