KOCHI: Kochi Corporation Mayor Soumini Jain said that she raised her apprehensions with the State Government against the move to take away the powers vested with the civic body by the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of the Smart City project.
“It does not mean that we are against the SPV. The powers vested with the local body under the 74th amendment to the Constitution and the Kerala Municipal Act cannot not be taken away by other bodies. The Centre has issued only guidelines for the Smart City, neither a law nor an Act. It is the law or Act that should be followed,” Soumini Jain told DC on Monday.
The Kochi Corporation Mayor also pointed out that there had been instances where Central guidelines had been altered at the state level. “So it is not an impossible task. I deemed it fit to raise my apprehensions with the Chief Secretary and the State Urban Affairs Minister and therefore did so,” she said when it was pointed out that Smart City Mission Director A P M Mohammed Hanish had said that the differences on the guidelines needed to be taken up with the Central Government as they were issued by it.
Soumini Jain also said that tax collection and other revenue were important for the Corporation which could not be taken away by any other body.
