West Bengal State UDMA authorises MLAs to issue certifcates to citizens

The state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Department has allowed MLAs the authority to sign and issue various certificates generally given by the councillors.

Following Firhad Hakim’s resignation from the Mayor’s post on 5 June, the state government dissolved the KMC board and appointed Municipal Secretary Smita Pandey as the Administrator, empowering her with authority to run the civic body. After the board dissolved, the former councillors lost their authority to sign and issue certificates to their local residents. Considering the situation, the civic body wrote to the state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Department seeking permission to appoint former councillors as ward-level coordinators to ensure uninterrupted delivery of civic services to the citizens.

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The state UDMA department today issued a notification allowing the MLAs instead of the former councillors to sign and issue certificates required by the citizens. Speaking at a Press conference on the sidelines of the launching programme of the ‘Swachhata Se Swagat’ initiative, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari informed: “The MLAs of Kolkata Municipal Corporation have been given the power to issue certificates earlier done by the councillors. Such certificates would be accepted.”