After TOI report, Gurgaon councillors press mayor to hold monthly House meetings

Gurgaon: About five days after a TOI report highlighted that only three meetings of the MCG House were held last year, MCG councillors, during the special budget meeting on Wednesday, demanded monthly meetings be conducted as mandated. They also said that the budget would be approved only after the mayor announces the date of the next House meeting.The next general House meeting to discuss issues from all wards will be held on April 7.Questioning the irregularity of the meetings, ward 2 councillor Jyotsna Yadav said, "Why aren't House meetings held regularly every month as per the mandate? When it was decided in the last meeting that regular meetings would be held, why were they not conducted?" she asked.Ward 34 councillor Surekha Chauhan also stressed the need for regular meetings. "House meetings should be held regularly so that we can raise issues concerning our respective wards. Officials are also present in these meetings, which helps in resolving ward-level problems," she said.Agreeing with the councillors, MCG commissioner Pradeep Dahiya said the public expects transparency. "People want to know what their councillors have to say and what work is being carried out in their areas. This is only possible when House meetings are conducted every month," he said.Responding to concerns, mayor Raj Rani Malhotra said, "Let us fix a date for April's meeting according to everyone's availability."On March 14, TOI reported that MCG convened only three House meetings in the past year, raising serious questions about compliance with statutory provisions governing municipal functioning. Of these three meetings, one was a special session held in April last year to approve the budget for the current financial year, further highlighting the lack of regular deliberations on civic matters. Under Section 52 of the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994, and Section 25 of the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973, municipal houses are required to hold at least one meeting every month to transact official business.