SANGRUR – The state unit of the BJP has expressed concern over the state government’s move to allegedly weaken municipal councils by curtailing their administrative and operational powers.
Secretary of the Punjab unit of the party Jatinder Kalra said this act of the government amounted to centralisation of municipal powers, while it wanted more powers from the Centre for itself in the name of more rights for the states.
Kalra, who is also a former municipal councillor, said through a notification, the state government had handed over powers relating to transfer of clerical cadre employees of municipal councils to the Director, Local Government, Punjab. Earlier, the transfer of these employees was the right of municipal councils, as these were their appointing authorities.
Such decisions were also “constitutionally wrong” as the 73rd and the 74th amendments of the Constitution emphasised on giving more powers to local bodies. The state government was working against the spirit of those amendments. He asked Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal not to curtail powers of the municipal councils in larger interests of the people.
The state government was also going to hand over the work of street-lighting and solid waste management to private firms by inviting tenders for the purpose, he said.
