War of words over alleged administrative paralysis in Kozhikode Corporation

Mayor and Deputy Mayor term the allegations defamatory

The recent media reports of the alleged administrative paralysis in the Kozhikode Corporation have led to a war of words between the Corporation’s administrative panel and the Opposition.

Following media reports that senior officials of the Corporation were on leave and that over 3,500 files were awaiting attention, Mayor Beena Philip and Deputy Mayor Musafar Ahamed, in a joint press release on Friday (November 15), brushed aside the charges and alleged a conspiracy to portray the civic body in a bad light. “There are 534 employees in the Corporation, of whom only a handful are on leave. The Corporation Secretary is on medical leave and has handed over charge to the Additional Secretary,” the Mayor said.

She also pointed out that Kozhikode was the only Corporation in the State with an ISO certification. “With most services routed through the K-Smart software, 87% of them (1.53 lakh of the total 1.75 lakh files) have been delivered. The rest cannot be called pending files as most of them are in some stage of processing. There are no files pending for over 15 days in the permit section,” she said in the release.

The Mayor and the Deputy Mayor termed the allegations a deliberate attempt by the United Democratic Front (UDF) and voiced apprehension that it would affect the morale of the employees who were doing a good job.

On the other hand, Opposition leader K.C. Shobhita urged the Mayor to accept the reality. “What is the point in boasting about an ISO certification when over 3,500 files are pending under the login IDs of the department heads alone,” she asked. She added that at least 25,000 files were pending altogether in the Corporation and challenged the Corporation authorities to conduct an investigation with the help of an independent agency.

Deputy leader of the UDF council party K. Moideen Koya said that the delay in processing files was a more serious issue than their number. He alleged that the files under K-Smart were not being regularly monitored and that no reviews were held even a year after the system came into place. He alleged that the services through K-Smart were more delayed than when they were delivered manually.

Published - November 16, 2024 08:35 pm IST