Six councillors, including the deputy chairperson of Kaveripakkam panchayat union in Ranipet, have resigned citing the non-cooperation of the panchayat union officials in executing civic works in their respective wards.
The resigned members of the panchayat union are G. Muniammal (DMK), S. Rani (DMK), K. Gomathi Kumar (AIADMK), K. Marimuthu (Congress), K. Yuvaraj (AIADMK), and C. Deepa Karthikeyan (PMK). Except for Ms. Muniammal, who was the deputy chairperson of the union and councillor for Ward 1, the others are councillors for Wards 2, 3, 4, 5, and 8. The resignation letter was handed over to K. Saifuddin, block development officer (BDO), Kaveripakkam.
The ward members were elected in 2021, when elections to rural local bodies were held in the State. “We are unable to do any civic works for residents in our ward due to the delay in releasing the necessary funds for the purpose by the block officials,” said K. Yuvaraj, Ward 5 councillor.
Councillors said that they were unable to undertake many civic works, including road relaying, the construction of overhead tanks (OHTs), storm water drains, and the creation of small ponds in their wards, due to delays in the preparation of estimates for the works by block officials. Payments for completed works were also not released on time as most of the civic infrastructure works were done on a credit basis, especially procuring raw materials for the work.
Panchayat union officials said that strict guidelines are being followed in sanctioning civic works in the block. Funds are also being released for the completed works based on the quality assessment by the union’s engineers. “We have sent the resignation letters to the Collector [S. Valarmathi], who will take appropriate action in consultation with the State Election Commission,” said K. Saifuddin, BDO (Kaveripakkam).
