Bihar secretariat

Patna, June 30: The state urban development department has evoked Section 69 of Bihar Municipal Act, 2007 and formed a five-member committee to investigate alleged irregularities in the working of Munger Municipal Corporation (MMC). The committee, formed on June 27, will submit its report on whether the corporation should be dissolved, within 30 days.

Section 69 of Bihar Municipal Act, 2007, empowers the state government to dissolve a municipality if the civic body has been incompetent or failed to perform its duties and functions, or has exceeded or abused its powers. “This is probably the first time that the state government is exercising its power to dissolve a municipality against charges of prevailing anomalies in its working. MMC has been served a notice to provide reasons for why the state government should not dissolve it,” said a senior official of the urban development department. The show-cause notice was served after a recent report submitted by Munger district magistrate Kuldeep Narayan to the principal secretary of the urban development department. Narayan said: “I had sent a report to the urban development department in the first week of June for large number of irregularities and abuse of power by chief councillor of Munger Municipal Corporation,”

The report of the DM came after frequent strikes of the employees of the civic body in the past. Sources said the employees of the corporation recently went on a three-month-long strike to demand salaries that have not been paid for 36 months. However, corporation officials were adamant on the issue of no work, no pay for 18 months. The strike was called off on June 17.

“A five-member committee comprising Munger district judge, Jamalpur rural works department executive engineer, Jamalpur municipality chief councillor, a chartered accountant of the district rural development agency and Munger sub-divisional officer has been constituted on June 27 to look into the matter. A decision would be arrived at after the committee submits its report,” said the urban development department officer.

Section 69 (2) prescribes a notice to be sent by the state government to the municipality concerned calling upon it to submit representation. On submission of representation, a five-member committee has to be constituted by the state government to assess the prevailing situation and submit its report to assist the state government to reach a final conclusion on the question of dissolving the municipality.

Section 70 of Bihar Municipal Act prescribes that with effect from the date of the order of dissolution of all the councillors including the members of the empowered standing committee and of any committee of the municipality constituted under this act, the chief councillor and the deputy chief councillor have to vacate their respective offices.

However, it also clarifies that such dissolution shall not effect or imply in any way the dissolution of the municipality as a body corporate.