Budget passed at Angamaly Municipality

ANGAMALY: The council meeting which was convened here on Wednesday to discuss and pass the municiapal budget for the year 201112 witnessed uproarious scenes when the opposition LDF councilors, alleging the proceedings were illegal and anti democratic, stormed into the well of the house shouting slogans while the Chairman C K Varghese began the discussion. However the ruling Congress councilors attended the discussion and the Chairman declared the budget passed within a few minutes.
The agitated opposition councilors gathered in front of the chamber of Chairman and shouted slogans against the unilateral action of the chairman declaring the illegal budget passed.The opposition councilors told mediapersons that the so called discussion of the budget was a violation of the municipal act. If the ruling councilors wanted to present the budget without being discussed in the Finance Standing Committee, they could have done so with the Secretary nominating some councilor for the same under the rule 290 of the Municipal Act. If the chairman wanted the Standing Committee Chairperson to present budget under Rule 286, the finance standing committee should discuss the budget proposal prior to presenting the same,opposition Parliamentary party leader E V Kamalakshan said. The finance standing committee could not be convened due to lack of quorum. The action of the ruling councilors was undemocratic and a challenge towards the people, said LDF parliamentary party secretary M S Girishkumar. Meanwhile the chairman C K Varghese said that the budget was passed legally. The LDF councilors blocked the municipal activities preventing its developmental works.