Mayors want longer term

All-Karnataka Mayors’ Meet, which was attended by five mayors out of 10 mayors in the State (excluding BBMP), decided to urge the government to take steps to make the mayor's term at least 20 months, instead of existing one year, or five-year term through direct election on the model of some other states.

In the meet held here on Saturday, Kalaburagi Mayor Sharan Kumar Modi stated that one year mayor's term is not sufficient to execute development works.

Hubballi-Dharwad Mayor Sudhir Saraf noted that approval for the municipal corporation’s proposals should be approved directly by the Urban Development Department, within one month, instead of forwarding them through the Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA). Movement of proposals through the DMA are delaying approvals, he said.

One time settlement (OTS) scheme with interest waiver for pending water bills and pending property tax, recruitment of staff, GIS survey to bring all properties under the tax net, restricting the use of SFC grants only for city development works, solution for rented land issue, release of another round of Rs 100 crore special grants under Nagarotthana scheme, and proper implementation of the 74th Amendment to the Constitution were the other demands of mayors.

Mysuru Mayor S Bhagyavathi, Vijayapur Mayor Sangeeta Pol, and Belagavi Mayor Basappa Chikkaladinni also took part in the event, which was inaugurated by MLC Shrinivas Mane.