Is regular skipping of F&CC meeting by acting mayor group helped Mayor Patiala Sanjeev Bittu?
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in
Patiala is the lone city in the country which has two mayors, courtesy local bodies department of Punjab government. Local bodies minister Brahm Mohindra has suspended Sanjeev Sharma Bittu and appointed Yoginder Singh yogi as the acting mayor of Patiala on November 25,2021. But, till date no suspension orders of Bittu and appointment orders of Yogi were issued by the local bodies department.
Now days, Patiala is governed by two mayors-Sanjeev Sharma Bittu and Yoginder Singh Yogi (acting mayor). Both the mayors are working, as per their own will. The matter about-who is the real mayor, is in the high court. The court will decide the future of both the mayor’s, in the coming days.
The latest bone of contention between both the mayors’s is the grant of Rs 17.79 released by Punjab government for the development works in Patiala. The said grant was sanctioned by former chief minister of Punjab Capt Amarinder Singh, when he was the chief minister.
Today, Mayor Sanjeev Sharma Bittu convened a Finance and Contract Committee (F&CC) meeting to clear the pending development works and to sanction the amount for the ongoing development works.
“The invitation for today’s F&CC meeting was sent to all the members. But only deputy mayor Vinti Sangar and commissioner municipal commissioner Vineet Kumar came to attend the F&CC meeting. Senior deputy mayor Yoginder Singh Yogi, Harvinder Shukla, Anil Moudgil didn’t come to attend the meeting. That’s why today meeting was cancelled, as the quorum of two third members was not completed and a new date December 20, 2021 at 9:00 am, is given for fresh F&CC meeting” said Mayor Sanjeev Sharma Bittu.
Is regular skipping of F&CC meeting by acting mayor group helped Mayor Patiala Sanjeev Bittu? . Bittu added that till date three F&CC meetings were postponed, due to not fulfillment of required quorum .First on November 16, 2021, second on December 13, 2021 and third on December 16, 2021. The state government has released an amount of Rs 17.79 crores, sanctioned by Capt Amarinder Singh when he was the chief minister for the development of Patiala. Out of this 17.79, 1.03 crore is for parks and open gym in the city, 12.82 crore for roads, 2.44 crores for dharamshalas, 26 lacs for street lights, 93 lacs for water, sewerage , 31 lacs for street vendor policy.
On December 13,2021 acting mayor Yoginder Singh Yogi convened an F&CC meeting and pass the development works of rs 17.79 crores. But, as per sources, the commissioner municipal corporation has not signed the proceedings of that F&CC meeting.
As per experts, now the road is cleared for mayor Sanjeev Sharma Bittu to pass all the agenda in next F&CC meeting, scheduled on December 20,2021 with one third -33 percent quorum as against the required two third members under section 58.3 of the MC Act. If on that day mayor Sanjeev Sharma Bittu, deputy mayor Vinti sangar and commissioner Municipal Corporation attend the meeting, they can pass the agenda, in that meeting. As per the act “ if the F&CC meeting is canceled for three regular terms due to not fulfillment of require quorum, that can be cleared in the next meeting with one third members ” said an expert.
Is regular skipping of F&CC meeting by acting mayor group helped Mayor Patiala Sanjeev Bittu? .As per information besides Mayor Sanjeev Sharma Bittu, deputy mayor Vinti Sangar, commissioner municipal corporation Vineet Kumar, SE Sham Lal Gupta, XEN Naranjan Dass, Rajpal singla, superintendent Vishal sayal, Gurwinder singh, secretary Ravdeep Singh, Sunil Mehta along with other heads of various departments attended the meeting.
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