Chennai: The Greater Chennai Corporation’s council adopted 109 resolutions, in which 90 were table agendas, in less than five minutes with only one-eighth of the council strength present.
The inclusion of important resolutions as mere table agendas has become something of a trend at the Ripon Buildings, with the January 2016 council also adopting 82 table agendas.
During that meet, DMK councillors had protested the inclusion of so many resolutions as table agendas. Mayor Saidai Duraisamy then replied that it was the fault of corporation officials, as they were bringing up the contracts for inclusion and approval at the last minute. “Like preparing for exams at the last minute and I do not appreciate this practice as well. I shall ensure that this does not repeat next time,” Duraisamy had said during the January council meet.
However, those instructions fell on deaf ears as officials went one step further by introducing 90 table agendas during the budget session. “Table agendas help promote shady deals and corruption,” pointed out DMK councillor S.C. Bose.
The Mayor went ahead with adopting all 109 resolutions even though the council strength was less than the one-third minimum required. Around 25 councillors, out of the council’s 200 sanctioned strength, yelled ‘Aam’ (yes) to when the Mayor asked for consensus to ratify the resolutions.
Ward 91 councillor P.V. Tamilselvan of the Congress, said that the Mayor’s practice of drawing out council sessions through his “extraordinarily long” introductory remarks was to blame for councillors leaving the hall.
What is table agenda?
Table agenda denotes the resolution which only briefly mentions a contract or announcement by the Greater Chennai Corporation without getting into the details.
