THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For a change, the LDF and UDF members in the City Corporation dumped the garbage issue and fought over the reconstitution of the Management Committee for Industrial Project (MCIP) when the Council met on Wednesday. The bickerings, which started on the issue led to a tussle between the councillors on the floor and edged on an altercation which finally came to an end with the Mayor suspending the meeting for a short while. It is the Management Committee which holds the responsibility of monitoring the operations of the Corporation-run Computer Training Centre and Reprographic Centre which became the bone of contention. The UDF members alleged that the reconstituted committee had members, who had been marked as corrupt as per a report, prepared by the officials during the previous Council period. They should be removed from the committee, UDF leader Maheswaran Nair said. The computer centre has been offering computer training to people from the lower strata at a reasonable fee. It was on an expansion mode when charges of corruption rocked the centre and the previous Council appointed a two- member committee to look into the allegations. According to the UDF members, the report never found light and was not even placed before the Council.“The report should be discussed first and then the corrupt officials removed. Then only the reconstitution should take place,” Maheswaran Nair said. However, LDF members M S Sangita and V S Padmakumar said that the reconstituting of the Management Committee was essential for the smooth conduct of the centre. “Let it be done, the new committee shall look into the allegations,” Padmakumar said. The bickerings continued as the Mayor put the issue to vote. The agenda was passed on voting but the din over it continued. Mayor Chandrika resumed reading out the official agenda. Medical College councillor Sreekumar interrupted to talk in one of the agenda items which was mistaken by the Mayor as a hindrance on the part of the UDF. She did not allow the councillor to speak which led to the outburst from the UDF side. The tussle on the floor of the Council, which lasted for more than 10 minutes, was finally resolved when the Mayor left to the chair calling off the session for a few seconds. When the din subsided, the Mayor returned and allowed the Medical College councillor to raise his take on the agenda.
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