CHENNAI: The Greater Chennai Corporation's (GCC) July council meeting witnessed a flurry of complaints regarding the neglect of elected representatives by civic officials following the change in the state regime.
DMK councillors alleged that projects initiated during the previous regime were being inaugurated by ministers without extending invitations to local councillors and zonal committee chairpersons. Additionally, several councillors reported that officials were skipping ward and zonal committee meetings entirely.
Criticising the biased conduct of GCC officials, Ward 99 DMK councillor Parithielamsurithi alleged that the Anna Nagar Zonal Officer was deliberately sidelining elected ward representatives to curry favour with the new Egmore MLA and Minister, Rajmohan.
"A public toilet near the Maveerar Rettamalai Srinivasan statue at Theerder Nagar was inaugurated a couple of days ago by Egmore MLA and Minister Rajmohan. Although this project was constructed using the GCC capital fund and we worked continuously to implement it in our ward, we were not invited to the event," Parithielamsurithi stated, demanding an immediate inquiry into the Zonal Officer's actions.
Similarly, Anna Nagar Zonal Committee Chairman KP Jain noted that neither he nor the local ward councillor was invited to the inauguration of Bougainvillaea Park by KA Sengottiyan, Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management.
Opposition voices joined the chorus as well. AIADMK Ward 197 councillor S Menaga pointed out that zonal chairpersons and ward councillors are consistently ignored and excluded from official events, including pulse polio drives, notebook distribution drives in schools, and Kamarajar's birth anniversary celebrations held in corporation schools.
During the session, the GCC Education Officer was made to stand before the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Commissioner to answer for the protocol lapses. Responding to the grievances, Mayor R Priya emphasised that administration and politics must remain separate. She stated that while attending an event is optional for elected members, extending an invitation to them is mandatory.
Firmly advising officials to function as neutral administrators rather than political actors, the Mayor directed zonal officers to ensure that all ward councillors and chairmen are duly invited to every event, including the upcoming August 15 Independence Day flag-hoisting ceremony, and warned them against playing political games