GHMC votes against CAA

The GHMC passed a unanimous resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act in the general body meeting held on Saturday. Supporting the state government's stand, deputy mayor Baba Fasiuddin introduced the resolution opposing the CAA which was approved by the council members under the chairmanship of Mayor B. Rammohan.

The only opposition came from Begum Bazaar corporator G. Shankar Yadav of the BJP. He said it was unethical for the corporation to pass a resolution against a law enacted by Parliament.

The resolution was passed orally. A copy signed by the mayor will be will be available after three days.

Prior to the general body meeting, a special council approved the GHMC Budget of `6,793 crore. Though the Budget was `5,380.64 crore, the authorities included `1,593.64 crore for the double bedroom scheme and Comprehensive Road Maintenance Project to boost the numbers. The Budget last year stood at `6,150 crore.

As per the Budget proposals, `2,630 crore has been given to capital expenditure and `1,593.64 crore for roads.

Cutting across party lines, corporators appealed for a slash in penalties being levied by the Enforcement, Vigilance and Disaster Management (EVDM) wing for defacement and unauthorised banners and flexis. MIM MLA Meraj Hussain demanded that the Mayor explain under what provisions the EVDM was set up. “Is EVDM under GHMC or GHMC under EVDM? As elected representatives we are facing trouble from citizens for blatant violation of the GHMC Act. How could petty vendors on streets pay such huge amounts,” he asked.

When EVDM director Viswajit Kampati wanted to explain, the MLA did not allow him. Intervening, Mayor Rammohan said it was not wise to target a officer and said they could raise objections against the procedures or systems. It was decided in the meeting that GHMC would soon constitute a committe to finalise penal amounts and decision would be taken in the next standing committee meeting.