Mangaluru: The Aam Admi Party (AAP) staged a protest demanding the formation of ward committees in front of Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) here, on March 19.
AAP District Convener, Alexander D’Souza said, “Earlier we had submitted a memorandum to the City Corporation regarding the formation of ward committees, but no such committees are formed to date. Ward formation is the only way to ensure that the general public has a greater say. The Government of India is in a mission to develop this country with basic infrastructure and offer smart solutions. But there is no sign of smart solutions in our city. Ward committee formation will be more advantageous for the smart city mission and will solve most of the problems in the city.”
AAP Member, Gerald Towers said, “We all know that City Corporation has a large intake of funds sanctioned by the government, but significant progress cannot be seen. To become a smart city we need to come up with smart solutions, but the authorities don’t seem to be showing any interest. The government had issued a notification to this effect on September 23, 2003 after making necessary amendments to the law. According to it, committees had to be constituted by dividing the wards. But a decision to implement it has been pending before the council since 1997 – 1998.”
He further said that, the BJP in its manifesto for the MCC council elections in 2007 had stated that it would constitute ward committees and their meetings would be conducted systematically. This promise however was yet to be realized. “We are just compelling the concerned authorities to implement the order, which has been passed by the Karnataka High Court.”
AAP Treasurer, Marcia Pinto, Mohammed Saleem and others were also present.