Corporators seek facilities for themselves

hyderabad: the election to the municipal corporation of hyderabad (mch) has started proving costly with corporators making unending demands: not for taking up development works but to meet their personal demands. the corporators have been demanding that they be given 1,000 visiting cards each, a leather bag, a copy of hmc act and telephone directory comprising telephone numbers of district level departments such as mch, telecom, hyderabad metropolitan water supply & sewerage board, police, ap transco and others.each copy of the hmc act is priced at rs 750 which, officials say, can hardly be comprehended by nearly half of the 100 corporators. asked whether it was mandatory for the corporation to meet the personal demands of the corporators, the officials in the council secretariat described them as ‘gifts’ which they usually give during the budget period. they refused to elaborate. most of the employees of mch public relations department are engaged in working on a telephone directory and are collecting telephone numbers of all departments to prepare a comprehensive copy at the cost of the corporation. since the mch printing press has become obsolete, visiting cards are being printed at a private press. most corporators have been asking for screen printed cards and some have objected to the quality of paper being used. the demands from the mayor and deputy mayor are no less than those of the corporators. since taking over the office, the mayor has exhausted 600 visiting cards and has put up a request for another 1,000 cards. he has also sought a ‘global sim card’ to enable him to speak to mayors of other cities across the country and globe. officials are worried over the deputy mayor’s demand for a seat just behind the mayor in the council hall. he was not satisfied when officials clarified there is no mention about seating in the hmc act. meanwhile, officials are trying to strike a balance in sanctioning works and disbursing equal amounts for developmental works. they have already proposed that each corporator get funds for one road, park, ground and drainage work. however, some corporators, are objecting to the formula.