Sirhind-Fatehgarh Sahib civic body House rejects ward delimitation

As many as 18 of the 21 councillors of the Sirhind-Fatehgarh Municipal Council passed a resolution rejecting the proposed delimitation of wards, alleging that it was being carried out under political pressure.

There was high drama at the MC office before the meeting, which was convened by the council president. Councillors reached the meeting room to find it locked and the entire staff, including the peons, absent. The president came later and opened his office for the deliberations to take place.

Clarifying the matter, Ashok Sood, president of the civic body, said 16 members had asked him on December 22 to call a meeting on the issue of delimitation of wards initiated by the Local Government Department. He added that the agenda was set on December 23 and the call for the meeting was issued. On December 23 evening, the Executive Officer (EO) issued a letter to all councillors, postponing the meeting on the pretext of the ensuing Shaheedi Sabha.

“None of the members received the letter. I had urged the EO and agenda clerk to remain present for the meeting but they did not turn up. The meeting rejected delimitation for there was no rationale behind the move as neither the area had been extended nor the population increased,” Sood added. He further said the EO had no right to postpone the meeting as it was the president’s prerogative.

When contacted, Executive Officer Manvir Singh said that he had requested the president to postpone the meeting as the entire staff was busy with preparations for the Shaheedi Sabha. He refused to comment further.

It is worth mentioning that as per the new map released, the new proposed wards limits and classifications of the areas of almost all the councillors had been merged with others or their category had been changed.