Accusations of preferential treatment to political party workers and acquaintances were levelled against officials of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) who organised the Makkalai Thedi Mayor event in Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar in the city on Wednesday, May 31. The accusations were raised by the residents who waited several hours to submit petitions to Mayor R Priya under the Makkalai Thedi Mayor (Mayor meets residents) scheme.
Representatives of the Perambur Neighbourhood Development Forum who wished to meet the Mayor to raise the issue of frequent accidents on the Perambur High Road said that they waited in line for two hours. One of the representatives told TNM, “Corporation officials and authorities are letting their friends, family members, or party workers cut the line while others like us are made to wait with our tokens. It is no different from us going to the Secretariat, considering how long we are made to wait and the second-class treatment we receive.”
Office goers and the elderly who expected the process to be quick found themselves waiting for hours. Hari, a resident of Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar who accompanied an 85-year-old woman to submit a request for a new electricity connection at her residence, said, “We expected the line to move fast but since the Mayor is personally taking cognisance of all the issues, it is taking longer than expected.”
Heated arguments broke out twice between the waiting citizens and the organising officials for allegedly letting people cut the line.
On Wednesday, around 239 petitions were received from the public from 10 am to 1 pm and immediate action was taken on six petitions — four related to birth certificates and two related to name transfers of property tax.
The Mayor was accompanied by the GCC Commissioner Dr J Radhakrishnan, Deputy Mayor M Mahesh Kumar, and Minister for Hindu Religion and Charitable Endowments PK Shekar Babu, among others.
A press release issued by the Corporation said that the Mayor has taken action on 80% of the petitions received in an earlier edition of Makkalai Thedi Mayor, held at Royapuram (Zone %) on May 3. “Of the 331 petitions received, 227 have been resolved. The other petitions have been sent to the concerned departments to take appropriate action,” the press release said.