Kolkata, Aug 6 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday announced that an Amendment Bill proposing an increase in the number of wards in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and the Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) will be tabled and passed at a special session of the Assembly on August 12.
Speaking to media persons in the evening, Adhikari said that as per the proposed Bill, the number of wards in KMC will be increased from 144 to 209, while the number of wards in HMC will be raised from 50 to 68.
Both municipal corporations are scheduled to go for civic polls by the end of this year.
Adhikari said that soon after taking charge as Chief Minister earlier this year, he had promised the reorganisation of the seats of KMC and HMC.
“I also promised to hand over the administrative power of these two municipal corporations to the newly elected boards by December this year. Precisely to achieve that, the state government now intends to complete the legal process at the earliest. That is why the Amendment Bill will be tabled at a single-day special session of the Assembly on August 12,” he said.
The decision to reorganise the existing wards and increase their number has already attracted strong criticism from opposition parties, who claim that democratic practice requires publication of a draft list of wards before reorganisation.
Opposition parties have alleged that this process was not followed in the case of KMC and HMC and accused the state government of implementing the reorganisation without consulting all parties.
–IANS
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