Source: The Sangai Express
Impal, Jul 31:
Barely two months of assuming charge, newly elected Chairperson of Imphal Municipal Council has come under the heat of the Opposition bench with the latter expressing dissatisfaction over the style of her functioning and demanding her resignation on moral ground.
Talking to mediapersons, a senior leader of the Opposition, Ch Joykumar said the style of functioning of the Chairperson Jiwanlata and her ruling colleagues is not to the satisfaction of the Councillors on the Opposition bench.
If the councillors of the Ruling cannot perform their duties efficiently, then Chairperson Jiwanlata should own the responsibility and step down from her post morale ground, he demanded.
Apart from not having taken up any measures to look after infrastrucural needs of the Council and as payment of pending salaries to the employees, the Chairperson not been able to convene the joint meeting of the Ruling and the Opposition scheduled to be held every month on date 25, the elected councillor from ward no.7 said.
He disclosed that a notification had been issued for convening a joint meeting of the Ruling and the Opposition on July 25 at 11 am but the Chairperson left in a huff asking the Vice Chairperson to preside over the meeting as she was supposedly being called by the Chief Minister.
The meeting was subsequently postponed.
The postponed meeting was to be held today.
But just before the commencement of the meeting, the Chairperson again left stating that she was being summoned by the Chief Minister, when the fact is that Chief Minister is presently not in Manipur, but in Delhi, Joykumar said.
While pointing out that the joint meeting of the Ruling and the Opposition is important in the light of the notice served by the employees to go on strike from August 10 if the Council fails to pay their last 20 months' pending salaries, Joykumar asserted that the attitude of the Chairperson and other Councillors of the Ruling party show that they do not care about the image of the Council and the problems likely to be faced by the people in case the employees went on strike.
Apart from payment of their pending salaries, the IMC employees have been demanding regular payment of salary and formulation of a long term policy of the employees.
Alleging that executive officer of the Council has also not been discharging duty efficiently, Joykumar said such inefficient officers should be given forced retirement.