EDMC councillors spar over SC/ST committee
23 July 2013 11:32 PM GMT
The meeting of the house of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) on Monday became a battle ground for the BJP and the Congress councillors as both parties tried to emerge as a champion of the marginalised communities.
BJP councillors blamed the Delhi government for using Dalits merely as vote banks, while Congress councillors accused the BJP ruled corporation of being anti-Dalit and for not allowing the constitution of a committee meant for the welfare of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
According to the rules of the corporation, a committee must be constituted for the welfare of the SC/ST community immediately after the first meeting of the house. ‘Vijay Goel claims to reach out to Dalits by staying in their colonies but his party is deliberately delaying the constitution of the SC/ST committee for its vested interests,’ said Varyam Kaur, leader of opposition in EDMC.
Kaur added that the BJP was not allowing the formation of the committee because it had less number of SC/ST councillors than the Congress. She said the BJP fears losing the posts of chairman and deputy chairman in the committee.
‘We have six SC/ST councillors in the house and the BJP has only five including one councillor of the Bahujan Samaj Party. In this case both the posts of chairman and deputy chairman will go to the Congress but BJP doesn’t want to loose power hence it is delaying things,’ Kaur said. These councillors are from the wards reserved for SC/ST category.
But Sanjay Surjan, chairman of EDMC standing committee termed the charge as baseless.
BJP councillors blamed the Delhi government for using Dalits merely as vote banks, while Congress councillors accused the BJP ruled corporation of being anti-Dalit and for not allowing the constitution of a committee meant for the welfare of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
According to the rules of the corporation, a committee must be constituted for the welfare of the SC/ST community immediately after the first meeting of the house. ‘Vijay Goel claims to reach out to Dalits by staying in their colonies but his party is deliberately delaying the constitution of the SC/ST committee for its vested interests,’ said Varyam Kaur, leader of opposition in EDMC.
Kaur added that the BJP was not allowing the formation of the committee because it had less number of SC/ST councillors than the Congress. She said the BJP fears losing the posts of chairman and deputy chairman in the committee.
‘We have six SC/ST councillors in the house and the BJP has only five including one councillor of the Bahujan Samaj Party. In this case both the posts of chairman and deputy chairman will go to the Congress but BJP doesn’t want to loose power hence it is delaying things,’ Kaur said. These councillors are from the wards reserved for SC/ST category.
But Sanjay Surjan, chairman of EDMC standing committee termed the charge as baseless.
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