Chennai: News Today had in March reported that residents of ward 80 have formed what was called the Ward Sangam.
Using the 74th Amendment of the constitution, residents took it upon themselves to urge the government to implement the 1993 Nagarpalika Act that is part IXA in the Constitution, dealing with Municipalities.
In a similar movement, Arappor Iyakkam (API) organised ‘Know your rights’ campaign at Korattur that also deals with forming nagara sabha, the city-dwelling twin of grama sabha.
Subathra D, one of the State body members of the organisation, said, “Arappor was started to fight against corruption. Now, along with that, we want to strengthen our local bodies too. Like with grama sabha, our constitution gives people living in the city to form nagara sabha and we are planning to make it happen.”
The entity is working on a larger front in many parts of the city to raise voice against corruption.
“One of the works that we are undertaking at the moment is to identify ‘leaders’ and appoint them at every ward. They will be given proper training as to how to handle any given situation, how to find if corruption is happening and how to move legally and in many other fronts,” said Subathra.
The selected ward leaders will be given training at a village named Avanipur in Kanchipuram on 18 and 19 May under a complete residential programme. The outfit aims to find at least 50 such leaders from wards across the city. Currently, Arappor has identified a leader from ward 84.
“In the training the leaders will first be taught about the rights that people are not aware of. Then, they will be taught as to how to deal with the government if there is a foul play on its part. Mostly, the training is about what to do and crucially, what not to do,” said the State body member.
Subathra said the fifty leaders will all be part of Arappor so that if and when they face bigger cases, the outfit will be able to stand for them. ‘They will act as a pressure book and will get help from the ward committee,” she said.
It is important to note that the nagara sabha that is formed under Arappor is only a temporary fix to a bigger problem. Once the government brings out the law for forming ward sabhas in the city, the entity aims to ensure that people in such sabhas are well equipped with the knowledge as to how things happen in the government.
For more details, contact 9789015146 or 9962520528.