Demand to conduct Lokshadhi Din hearings

PUNE: Citizens’ groups have demanded that the public hearings and interaction programmes should not be cancelled due to code of conduct. Nagari Chetna Manch and People’s union have given letters to the civic administration to conduct these hearing.
The code of conduct for the Zilla Parishad and municipal councils elections have been imposed in different parts of the state. These local self-governing bodies in Pune will be going to poll in November.Apart from that, even the restrictions on the decision making are in place due to member of legislative council (MLC) elections. It may be relaxed at the end of November after the election results are announced.
“Most of the cases that come hearings are related to personal matters. Hardly any policy decision takes place in such meeting, which can have impact on voters, which is a major concern for election commission. So these meetings should not be stopped,” Ramesh Dharmavat, founder of the union.
“The notification regarding code of conduct has not given any directives to ban the hearings. People are coming to hearings and getting nothing in return.It is injustice on people to stop hearings,” said Qaneez Sukhrani, member of Manch.
At Lokshahi Din programmes, citizens can interact directly with administrative heads of state or local self-governments and lodge complaints about civic problems.