GUWAHATI, Aug 9 � The Guwahati Development Department (GDD) Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma�s decision to form development committees in every ward of Guwahati, and funding those with 50 per cent of the property tax was today termed �arbitrary� by the Mahanagar Unnayan Samity, Guwahati, with �no legal clause� to support the proposed system.
Charging the new system with lack of transparency, Subodh Sarma, president of the Samity said that only the general body of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) has the power, recommend such decision as per the GMC Act 1971, which says that �areas of the ward committees shall be notified by the government within three months from the date of receipt of proposal in this regard from the elected body of the corporation, (Clause 20 � A (ii).
�As per the municipal Act, the general body of elected representatives cannot remain dissolved for more than six months. However, the GMC elected body stands dissolved since May, 2008.� Sarma also said that such decision to decentralize executive power to people in the absence of an elected body is not supported by the GMC Act.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, Subodh Sarma alleged that the State Government and the department concerned are planning to jettison their responsibilities to the citizens, which might create an anarchical situation in the city.
With litigation pending in the Gauhati High Court on the civic issues of Guwahati, and a concrete decision still to come, the �hastily taken� decision of the GDD Minister to give 50 per cent of the property tax collected from the particular wards was also described by him as a �step to take political mileage� ahead of the State Assembly elections in 2011.
The Mahanagar Unnayan Samity covering almost all the areas of the city with its associate committees, have also decided not to participate in this system of ward development committees till the whole system becomes more transparent, backed by the legal clauses and accountability of the committees is fixed properly. �If any of our associates would join the system compromising with these criteria, it will have to first leave our Samity,� Sarma said. We will shortly discuss the situation, he said.
Fearing decentralization of corruption at the grassroots, the Samity president also mentioned that the appointment of committees� members on ad hoc basis, that too with honorary membership, would leave a great scope for corruption at the lower level.
