PMC corporators decide to adjourn meetings unless compelling reasons.

After senior corporator Anil Shirole pointed out that very little business is transacted in the general body (GB) meetings of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), a decision was taken on Monday to not adjourn such meetings unless there are compelling reasons.

It was also decided by leaders of various parties in the PMC that from June, the GB meetings would be begin at noon, instead of 4 pm.

The meeting was attended by mayor Mohansingh Rajpal. deputy mayor Prasanna Jagtap, leader of house Subhash Jagtap and chairman of standing committee, Ganesh Bidkar. Shirole, a Bharatiya Janata party corporator, by using the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, had got information about business transacted by the GB.

It had become clear that of the 86 GB meetings of the PMC scheduled in 2010-11, only 38 took place and the rest — amounting to 55% — were adjourned. GB meetings are held four or five times a month. As per the provisions of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation (BPMC), Act, 1949, these meetings are essential for the functioning of the civic body.
It is compulsory for all officers to be present at the meetings, which are chaired by the mayor. All decisions of the civic body have to be ratified at these meetings. However, often they are disrupted by corporators or adjourned for various reasons.
Shirole said adjournment of GB meetings reflected badly on the part of the corporators. “The meetings are quite a substantial investment on the part of the PMC in terms of manpower and the tax payers’ money,” he said.

Leaders of opposition parties — the BJP, Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena — boycotted the party leaders’ meeting called by Rajpal on Monday. It was understood that they were unhappy with his remark that “90% of corporators don’t understand the budget” made recently.