KMC to have an administrator for first time to look after operations

With civic elections in West Bengal postponed due to COVID-19, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation for the first time in history will get an administrator to look after its operations, as the tenure of its present TMC-run board expires in two days, Mayor Firhad Hakim said.

According to KMC sources, the TMC-led government, by using the provision of removal of difficulties in Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act, 1980, is most likely to appoint Hakim as the administrator.

"Firhad Hakim is most likely to be appointed as the administrator and he will be leading a team of administrators," said a senior TMC leader.

A 14-member board of administrators will also be appointed which will be headed by Hakim, he said.

"The tenure of the present board will end on May 7. As it is impossible to hold elections under the present circumstances, an administrator will be appointed to look after day-to-day work at the corporation from May 8," he said.

An order in this regard will soon be issued from the state secretariat, Hakim stated.

"Other civic bodies, too, will have an administrator to look after their operations, in case the tenure of the current board governing them have expired," Hakim, who is also the municipal affairs minister, said.

Hakim, however, declined to comment on whether he will be taking charge as the administrator from May 8.

Civic elections were likely to be held at the end of April, but the State Election Commission decided to postpone the poll process in the wake of the pandemic.

According to KMC sources, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), which was earlier known as Calcutta Municipal Corporation formed in 1876, has never witnessed an administrator taking charge of daily affairs since independence.