Siliguri gets five borough chiefs: were elected uncontested at the civic body SMC

On Monday, the SMC authorities also announced that the new Trinamul board will present its budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal on March 28

Siliguri Municipality Corporation office.: File photo

TT Correspondent   |   Siliguri   |    22.03.22  : The chairpersons of five borough committees — clusters of municipal wards — of Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) were elected uncontested at the civic body here on Monday.

Siliguri mayor Gautam Deb conducted the process and announced names of five Trinamul councillors — the party has bagged the SMC for the first time by securing 37 of 47 seats — and assured that more funds and manpower would be provided to the borough offices which serve as local offices of the municipal corporation.

Councillors Gargi Chatterjee (ward 3), Md Alam Khan (ward 6), Mili Shil Sinha (ward 17), Jayanta Saha (ward 25) and Pritikana Biswas (ward 46) were elected as chairpersons of borough committees one to five, respectively.

Deb told journalists after the election that borough offices play a key role in the smooth functioning of a civic body.

Usually,  solid waste management and allocation of vehicles for it, maintenance of electrical services, cleaning of wards, among others, are carried out by these offices.

“We want to decentralise the power of the city body and delegate more responsibilities to them (borough offices). The civic body will also give extra funds and manpower to these five offices,” said the mayor.

As of now, every borough receives around Rs 50 lakh a year for various tasks. Over the past few years, there has been a steady demand to engage more people at the offices and at the ward level to provide better civic services to residents of the city.

On Monday, the SMC authorities also announced that the new Trinamul board will present its budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal on March 28.

“There are indications that the board will focus on augmentation of revenue earnings. Also, there can be some important announcements with regard to infrastructure,” said a source.