Misal Demands Clarification from PMC Over Withdrawal of Civic Work Proposal

Pulling up the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) for withdrawing her proposal to allocate funds for civic work in her Parvati Assembly constituency, Maharashtra Urban Development Minister Madhuri Misal on Tuesday sought a written clarification on the decision, which she said tarnished her image. “After the recommendation of the standing committee, the general body of the municipal corporation had the full right to approve the proposal, and it was not appropriate for you to withdraw the proposal without discussing it with me when I am the MLA of the Parvati Assembly constituency and the minister of state for the Urban development department. It had led to my image being tarnished… without giving me any prior information about this,” Misal said in a letter to the municipal commissioner. “You had informed the municipal secretary in writing to withdraw the proposal saying some technical and administrative corrections need to be made in it. However, it should be clarified as to what such technical and administrative corrections were required,” she wrote. “I am of the clear opinion that this action of the municipal chief is illegal as per the rules of procedure. However, a factual report in accordance with the matter should be submitted for my perusal immediately.” On May 9 last year, Misal asked the PMC to undertake works in Parvati by committing funds in the civic body’s budget . There was a meeting with the civic administration on the issue on September 16 last year. The PMC administration and standing committee later approved taking up 21 civic works by budgeting Rs 32.83 crore for the purpose. However, the proposal was withdrawn on February 18. “I learnt through the media about the withdrawal of the proposal to commit funds for civic works in Parvati Assembly constituency. I am very disturbed by the media reports, and I feel it has dented my image,” Misal said. Last week, Municipal Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram said he was unaware of how the proposal got the standing committee’s approval. He was responding to a question about why the civic body’s funds were being used for local area development in an Assembly constituency when the MLA gets government funds for it.