F&CC Committee meeting to be held before MC House meet

Before convening the next session of the Amritsar Municipal Corporation House, a meeting of the Finance and Contract Committee is scheduled to be held next week. The final date for the House meeting will be decided after a discussion between Mayor Jatinder Singh Bhatia and MC Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh soon.

As per information, preparations are already under way for the second session of the House. Agendas are being collected from councillors and departments on the Mayor’s instructions. It is worth mentioning here that on June 24, under the leadership of councillor Vikas Soni, Congress councillors met with MC Commissioner Aulakh and raised concerns over the absence of a House meeting for the last three months, which they claimed has hampered the city’s development. Responding to this, Mayor Jatinder Singh Moti Bhatia had earlier hinted at calling a meeting in the coming week.

The Finance and Contract Committee plays a crucial role in approving tenders for developmental works, after which the departments issue work orders. The committee consists of six members — the Mayor (as Chairperson), the Senior Deputy Mayor, the Deputy Mayor, two councillors, and the Commissioner. Any decision requires a majority of four members. The committee scrutinises both technical and financial aspects of tenders related to roads, drains, maintenance and health infrastructure.

So far, around 22 agenda items have been submitted to the Mayor’s office for the upcoming House session. Among them is a proposal from the Sanitary Inspectors’ Association demanding additional wages for working on gazetted holidays, similar to sanitation workers. Ward 64 councillor Neetu Tangri has submitted a proposal seeking an increase in grants for gardeners employed by Mohalla Sudhar Committees for park maintenance. The current grant of Rs 2,000 per gardener per month has remained unchanged since 2015. The proposal argues that due to inflation, the amount is insufficient and recommends increasing it to Rs 5,000 per month.

Mayor Bhatia confirmed that the date for the Finance and Contract Committee meeting will be finalized soon. Following that, the schedule for the MC House session will be announced.

Amritsar