Hyderabad: Six months after promises were made to include representation of resident welfare associations and accept civil society members as ward committee members, the promises have gone down the drain.
It is learnt that corporators have convinced the GHMC to accommodate their followers as members of ward committees and area sabhas.
While calling for applications, candidates were asked to apply directly to GHMC. But now the Mayor has also asked corporators from 150 divisions to submit the list of nominees within a week. Only those nominated by the corporators would be accommodated.
Alwal RWA secretary G V Rao who submitted his application to be a ward member, said that civil society members took a decision at a meeting that if there were more than 10 people applying for an area sabha or ward committee, there should be elections for the same.
“Every committee should have a social activist, an educationist and people with knowledge of engineering and planning. In the present scenario of nominations by corporators, the legality of such a sabha or committee is null and void. Any court can set aside such nominations, he said.
According to Mr K. Srinivas Kumar from Bowenpally, there was another legal impediment to such nominations. As per Rule 3 (1) issued in G.O.Ms.No.58 MA, a ward committee shall be constituted for each ward within three months from the date of first meeting of the municipal council. The courts will decide if a committee constituted beyond the mandatory three months is legal or not.
GHMC elections to 150 divisions were held in February.
RWAs asked minister K.T. Rama Rao, the Mayor and the GHMC commissioner to constitute area sabhas and ward committees. Civil society members also proposed that instead of filling up these sabhas and committees with political followers of corporators, active members of civic society should be accommodated in such bodies.
The GHMC has said a special council meeting will be held on August 30 to nominate eligible ward committee members.
