Mangaluru: Mangaluru City Corporation had received over one thousand two hundred Ward committee applications as of December 4, 2020. Commissioner Shri Akshy Sridhar IAS will explain to the people, the overall process of the selection during the 9th City Politics Event – ‘Citizens and Politicians join hands for Ward Committees in Mangaluru’, which will be conducted as a webinar on February 12 at 10:30 am.
The webinar will be panelled by seven members of the corporation including the Commissioner and three citizens of Mangaluru who have applied for Ward committee membership. “The objective of the webinar is to make a bridge between politicians and citizens of Mangaluru, to create a collaborative environment as we embark on a new phase,” said Nigel Albuquerque, co-founder of MCC civic group.
The commissioner will explain the various stages in the process of formation and functioning of the Ward committee and Area Sabha.
“We were indeed overwhelmed by the response that was received and we tried our maximum to address various citizen groups across the city to send applications,” said Nigel. “The most important thing to note in this application process is that we kept the political cluster out of the application stage. By this we mean that anyone associated with a political party, was not allowed to submit their application,” he added. Nigel went onto explain that however, the corporaters will be asked for their views on the candidates selected for their respective wards, even though the final decision will be taken by the selection committee.
600 ward members for the 60 wards will be scrutinised and selected among the 1000 applications, by a selection committee which consists of the Commissioner and the top three officials of the Corporation which include, Deputy Commissioner, Santosh Kumar.
“We had met with the Commissioner to know the update of the selection process and he had informed that the process is on and yet to be completed,” said Nigel “When I inquired why there was a delay in the matter, he had told us that he does not wish to rush into the matter and commit any mistakes.”
The Commissioner had told Nigel and the MCC civic group, who met him on January 4, that he wants to install a proper process in place so that it becomes a role model for other cities in Karnataka.
“Following the selection process, the Commissioner must issue a notification inviting objections to anyone’s inclusion on the committee. A week can be given to submit objections,” said Nigel. “Once the final selection is completed, the Ward committee and the Area Sabha will be ready to function.”
Talking to News Karnataka, Nigel said that there are many decisions like selecting ward committee secretary and confirming the schedule of meetings which are to be confirmed by the commissioner. “The Ward committee will meet once a month and Area Sabha will meet once every three months,” he said.
During the meeting with the Commissioner on January 4, Nigel had suggested that if there is a surplus of application in one ward then it should be diverted to neighbouring wards in deficit. “The Commissioner had agreed to my request as the criteria for application is same as the ward corporation nomination and the person doesn’t need to only contest in a ward from which he resides,” he said.
Nigel says that this initiative which is the first-ever of its type in the city will create a citizen-powered Ward committee that will benefit the people of Mangaluru in many ways.
