Prasada Rao committee recommended creation of 2,607 more posts in GHMC
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation building. (Photo: PTI/File)
Hyderabad: The face of civic administration will change in Greater Hyderabad if the TRS forms the new government. The TRS has plans to transform five zones in the city i.e. East, West, North, South and Central into five municipal corporations for effective and efficient civic administration.
At present, the GHMC has a three-tier system of administration, with circle offices at local level, zonal offices at second level and head office at top level.
The TRS is of the opinion that after formation of Greater Hyderabad, the city has expanded to 625 square km and the population is nearing one crore.
“It is a centralised administration in the city. As a result, citizens of surrounding municipal circles have to come a long way to submit their applications to the GHMC head office located near Tank Bund. Even today, permission for construction of buildings of more than five floors is given only at the head office level and not at zonal or circle level".
"The civic administration needs to be decentralised and we (TRS) have proposals to transform the five zones in GHMC into five municipal bodies for better civic administration. Though a final decision will be taken after the new government assumes office, the proposal is to follow something like the Delhi municipal model,” said Telangana Gazetted Officers’ Association chairman and GHMC’s former deputy municipal commissioner, V. Srinivas Goud, who is contesting from Mahbubnagar constituency on a TRS ticket.
The TRS think-tank is of the view that each of the five municipal corporations in the city should be headed by an IAS officer and that recruitment of all other cadre officers in municipal bodies will be made by local people from the city and Telangana region.
Also, the TRS leadership wants Hyderabad Metro Rail extended up to 100-km on all four sides of the city so that it connects all the districts in Telangana. “A mass and quick transportation system like Metro Rail should connect rural belt of Telangana with Greater Hyderabad,” another TRS leader said.
It may be mentioned that the expert committee appointed by the state government to study and recommend ways and means of improving civic governance in the city after the formation of the GHMC, had recommended continuation of the three-tier civic administration in the city.
The committee headed by Mr Prasada Rao had suggested that the current 18 circles should be increased to 30, each circle to be headed by an officer of deputy municipal commissioner rank.
Also, as the government had expanded the city and formed Greater Hyderabad without sanctioning any additional posts or filling up the vacancies, the Prasada Rao committee recommended creation of 2,607 more posts in GHMC.
Though the state government (in United Andhra Pradesh) had accepted the Prasada Rao committee recommendations and even the finance department had given its approval for salaries and creation of 2,607 posts in GHMC, there was no new recruitment due to pressure from Telangana unions in the Secretariat and GHMC.
GHMC commissioner Somesh Kumar said no major decisions were being taken or being implemented in the present scenario. “It is not proper to take major decisions at this time. We will wait for the bifurcation process to be completed,” he said to a query about Prasada Rao committee recommendations being kept in abeyance.
( Source : dc )
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