On Thursday, the chairpersons of the Greater Chennai Corporation's standing committees were elected. They were all members of the ruling DMK.
Following the indirect election of chairpersons in Ripon Buildings on Thursday, Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi announced that the chairpersons, including two women, were elected unopposed because no other members filed nominations.
The following individuals were elected as chairs of various Standing Committees: The Standing Committee on Accounts will be led by K. Dhanasekaran (Ward 137). N. Sitarasu (Ward 110) is in charge of Works, G. Santhakumari (Ward 81) is in charge of Public Health, Tha. Viswananathan (Ward 181) is in charge of Education, Sarpajeya Das (Ward 44) is in charge of Taxation and Accounts, and Ilaya Aruna (Ward 49) is in charge of Town Planning.
Raja Anbalagan (Ward 141) and S. Velu (Ward 78) were elected to the Corporation's Appointments Committee.
Mr. Bedi stated that the standing committees served as a bridge between the Commissioner, the Mayor, and the Council. Many proposals pertaining to departmental subjects were presented to the Council via the standing committees.
The proposals are reviewed by the Committees before being introduced in the House. “Any proposal that is estimated to cost less than ₹50 lakh can be approved by the Commissioner. Those that cost between ₹50 lakh and ₹60 lakh are approved by the Mayor. Proposals estimated to cost between ₹60 lakh and ₹ 1 crore are scrutinised by the Standing Committee and then placed before the Council,” Mr. Bedi added.
