The standing committee of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday cleared 44 proposals worth over Rs1,000 crore within a span of less than an hour, apparently without any detailed discussion on use of public money.
The members took decisions on important proposals, including those of roads (Rs500 crore), purchase of school items (Rs186 crore), storm water drain (around Rs95 crore), gardens (Rs115 crore), etc.
According to sources, out of 45 proposals (one proposal was shot down) discussed by the members, 27 were circulated to members of the committee on late Thursday night, leaving the Opposition members with no time to study the contents. In a normal case, the members should ideally get the agenda of the meeting 72 hours before the scheduled date. However, the Opposition members did not protest the manner in which the proposals were circulated at the 11th hour and cleared within a short span.
Opposition leader Devendra Amberkar, who confessed to have received a copy of the additional proposals (urgent business) at 1.30am, said they were helpless. He was evasive when asked as to why the Opposition members did not raise any concern over the manner in which decision over use of hefty public money was taken. Rather, Amberkar told the chairman of the committee, Rahul Shewale, not to circulate proposals in a hurried manner 'next time'.
Samajwadi Party group leader Rais Shaikh, who got a bunch of proposals at 145 am, too expressed helplessness. "Since no important work has been undertaken yet, we can't afford to delay decision on it further," Shaikh tried to reason.
Civic activists slammed the Opposition parties for allegedly being hand in glove with the ruling parties. "It is questionable how the proposals are circulated late during night and decisions taken in haste," reacted James John, a member of AGNI, an NGO.
Meanwhile, despite repeated attempts, Shewale chose not to revert.
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