Patna: Further mounting pressure on the state govt, the empowered standing committee members and councillors of Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Tuesday passed a resolution against the Municipal Amendment Bill, 2024, demanding its rollback or revoking of new provisions of the bill that will curtail the powers of the civic bodies.
The Municipal Amendment Bill, 2024, was passed in the monsoon session of the assembly on July 23.
The resolution against the Bill was passed at the sixth general meeting of the PMC, chaired by Patna mayor Sita Sahu here on Tuesday. A day earlier, Sahu along with deputy mayor Reshmi and more than 50 councillors burned the copies of the Bill.
Sahu pointed out that under the new Bill, the mayors and councillors will merely become ‘paper tigers’, as all the decisions will be taken by the state govt. “We will move court, if the govt will not hear to our pleas. Municipal bodies are autonomous and free to take their decisions for the welfare of the people, who elect us. If they take our powers, then what’s the use of councillors or mayors,” she said.
Ashish Kumar Sinha, member of the empowered standing committee, said under Section 60, the agenda of the meeting will be prepared by the municipal commissioner. “Earlier, it was done by the mayor. Sub-section (3) of Section 25 of Bihar Municipal Act, 2007 was deleted and now the executive officers will not work under the supervision of the mayor. Under Section 221, municipal rate for solid waste will be determined by the govt. There are several sections, in which the amendments have been made that will snatch our powers,” he said.
“As per the new Bill, the civic bodies cannot pass any resolution against the rules or instructions issued by the govt. If any such act was passed by the Centre asking the state govt not to raise any questions on their decisions, then what will it do,” questioned Sinha.
Apart from the discussion on the new Bill, the councillors passed 18 other agendas, including construction of electric crematorium at Nand Gola Ghat in ward 70, for which Rs 8.7 lakh fund was allotted, plantation work under the flyovers and other places in the city and allocation of fund for procurement of sweeping machines under the 15th finance commission for other local bodies, including Danapur, Khagaul, Phulwarisharif and Sampatchak.
The other agendas passed included redevelopment of pond in ward 30, installation of selfie-points in all 75 wards, addition of ‘institutional bulk solid waste generator’ category in solid waste management fee, swapping of batteries of e-vehicles, construction of three workshops to repair the vehicles of the PMC, bio-mining of fresh legacy waste at landfill site at Ramachak Bairiya and making the wards open manhole free.