Chairman says Act 2019 made local bodies powerless.
Hyderabad: Telangana State Municipal Chambers (TSMC) on Monday urged Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to amend the Municipalities Act, 2019 incorporating best practices from other states for better administration across the state.
Addressing mediapersons at the chambers office in the city, TSMC chairman Venreddy Raju alleged that the Municipalities Act enacted by the previous BRS government to undermine the powers of local bodies and urged Revanth Reddy to formulate a comprehensive Municipal Act.
Recalling that Revanth Reddy himself rose from the position of a representative of local bodies to the level of Chief Minister, Raju said the Telangana Municipalities Act 2019 made local bodies powerless.
He stated that while Rajiv Gandhi made the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments to strengthen local bodies and boost the development of towns and villages, the previous BRS government destroyed them.
He also alleged that the laws brought by the government handed over all powers to officials while giving only responsibilities to public representatives. He said local bodies in Telangana have become mere ceremonial entities and have become weak.
The chairman demanded that the administration of municipalities be handed over from the collectors to the commissioner and director of municipal administration.
