Patna: Patna’s Municipal Corporation has once again failed to convene its Empowered Standing Committee meeting, leaving more than 200 development projects in limbo.
On Tuesday, Mayor Sita Sahu, Deputy Mayor Reshmi Chandravanshi and other committee members arrived on time for the session, but no municipal officials, including the commissioner, attended. After waiting three hours, the meeting was postponed for a third consecutive time.
Speaking at a press conference, Sahu expressed frustration, accusing officials of deliberately avoiding the meeting. “Neither did they arrive, nor did they send any representatives, nor provide any information,” she said. She added that she would register a complaint with the chief minister and stage a protest with councillors.
The row follows earlier attempts to hold the session. A meeting was first scheduled for August 26, but the municipal secretary postponed it, citing the chief minister’s programme. A new date of September 6 was set, though members were given only four of the 200 agenda items, and key documents, including minutes of previous committee and budget meetings, were withheld. That meeting, too, was pushed back, with September 16 fixed instead.
Despite a formal notice being circulated on September 13, officials again failed to appear at the latest sitting. Sahu said the Urban Development and Housing Department had wrongly accused him of negligence, insisting records showed the commissioner had resisted convening the session.
He claimed the “authoritarian attitude” of municipal officials was obstructing development work and called on the Bihar government to intervene.
Committee members Kumar Sanjeet and Vinod Kumar also objected to the mayor’s actions being scrutinised by junior officials. Among those present were members Kaveri Singh, Shweta Rai, Kanti Devi, Anita Devi and Manoj Kumar.
