Payel Bhattacharyya,
Lake Terrace

The mayoral council is indispensable for the smooth functioning of a civic body. The council reduces the heavy workload on the mayor. Just as a chef cannot cook well without genuine ingredients, the mayor and the civic officials would be handicapped without a mayoral council. Scrapping the council would be undemocratic and unrealistic.

Kaushik Guha,
SN Roy Road

The idea of abolishing the mayoral council is not a good one. After all, it is the council members who are always in touch with people at the grassroots. They know what needs to be done for the people of an area, whether it is improvement of the sewerage system or road repairs. Without the help of the council, the mayor and his officials will not be able to improve the condition of the city.

Kalyan Ghosh,
Park Street

It is not possible for the mayor to do everything himself. But it is indeed doubtful whether the mayoral council in its current form is of much use. The council members are basically politicians without any administrative experience or skill. Under the circumstances, it would be a better idea to make up the council with officials who will be able to handle the various departments more efficiently. This would also put an end to the squabbles among council members.

Sohini roy,
Sarat Chatterjee Avenue

The mayoral council should be done away with, leaving only the mayor and civic officials. The more the number of people in the mayoral council, the more the mismanagement. Needless to say, the actual amount of work done is inversely proportional to the number of mayoral council members.

T.R. Anand,
Budge Budge

Yes, the mayor and civic officials should be rid of the mayoral council. However, the do-gooders need to be protected at all cost. While the mayor is needed for long-term planning, the council members should be taught a lesson for their misdeeds.

Joydeep Chatterjee,
Shyambazar

The mayoral council?s duty is to act for the betterment of the people. But more often than not, they act like coxcombs. Improvement in civic amenities like the condition of roads, drainage system and water supply has suffered as a result of the inefficiency of mayoral council.

Rimli Dutta,
Salt Lake

Getting rid of the mayoral council would not only be impractical, but also illogical. The council should be put under the charge of one person, who would head a team of officials. This will help the mayor and make it easier for the departmental heads to do their work independently. The mayor, however, should always be available to sort out problems. If there is only the mayor and a team of civic officials, the workload on them would multiply.

Pijush Nandi,
Barasat

The abolition of the mayoral council in the corporation will put a lot of pressure on civic officials. They would have to be more diligent in discharging their duties.

Satyen Biswas,
Pathak Para Road

Just as a king needs ministers to properly look after his kingdom, the mayor needs the mayoral council to run the civic body efficiently. It is impossible to run a civic body without officials either. Discussions and diverse opinions are necessary at all times for the proper functioning of a body.

Prahlad Agarwala,
Majdia, Nadia

Since councillors elected from different wards of the city play a significant role in highlighting the problems of their respective areas, the mayoral council, comprising select councillors, should not be done away with, leaving only the mayor and civic officials.

B.N. Bose,
Dum Dum Park

It will be better if the mayoral council is done away with. The members of the council seldom do any real work and only add to the confusion. Their responsibilities should be shouldered by the civic officials.

Sourish Misra,
Salt Lake

The mayoral council should not be done away with leaving only the mayor and civic officials. If such a step is taken, the mayor would have to supervise all the different departments of the corporation. Putting all the responsibility on the mayor is not a good idea. A better option would be to retain the mayoral council. The present system is more effective in addressing the grievances of the common people.

Govinda Bakshi,
Budge Budge

The mayoral council, being an advisory body, assists the mayor in solving the citizens? problems. The mayor and the council are answerable to the voters because they are elected by the people. Coordination between the mayor and his council is a must.

A.F. Kamruddin Ahmed,
Collin Lane

Certainly not. The mayor-in-council is an important body. The mayor himself cannot look into the thousands of civic problems. If he is made to, he will simply fail to deliver. Mayoral council members sometimes raise serious problems and create pressure on the mayor if he is taking the wrong path. The council thus acts a watchdog. Officials would find it difficult to play a similar role.

Biswajyoti Bagchi,
Alipore

There is no need for a mayoral council if efficient officials head all the departments. The council members anyway spend most of their tenure looking for political and financial gains. A survey of their status before and after a tenure will reveal the fact. The officials heading the different departments of the civic body are no less competent than political leaders who constitute the mayoral council. If needed, the mayor can depute councillors to supervise ward-wise development. As of now, the functioning of civic officials is severely hampered by the mayoral council.

Chandan Roy,
Sakuntala Park

The council should certainly not be abolished. Non-existence of the council would stall development work in a civic body as the council members are the link between the mayor and borough chairpersons. Civic officials are not meant for assessing problems and it is best to retain the peoples? representatives as mayoral council members. Also, the mayor might find it difficult to reach an important decision without the help of council members.

Diptimoy Ghosh,
Salt Lake

The mayoral council is nothing but an ornamental body. Abolishing such a council will not only save public money but minimise the paraphernalia surrounding civic development work. A few years ago, the Upper House (legislative council) of the Assembly had been done away with, since it was found that it served no practical purpose. The mayor himself is enough to head a civic body, and needs only the support of officials. Several posts of assistant commissioners can be created to look after each ward once the mayoral council is abolished. This system will prevent political rivalry from subverting the system.

Arunava Bose Choudhury,
Barrackpore

The idea is impractical. The task of the mayoral council is to formulate policies for the development of the city, subject to the mayor?s nod. Instead of being dissolving, the council should be empowered with legal and financial powers so that developmental work is not stalled.

Dipro Ray,
Beniapukur Lane

Is it really necessary to abolish the mayoral council? Sometimes involvement of too many people in a particular work gives rise to a chaotic situation, but efficient council members can make a valuable contribution to the development of the city. For that, the responsibility of each council member needs to be clearly demarcated. The mayor himself should keep a tab on the work done by the council members.

Sandhya Banerjee,
Salt Lake

The mayoral council should not be done away with. The council members can play an important role in providing civic amenities to people. The council can also prevent the mayor from becoming a puppet in the hands of his political party.