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The Hindu
28-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Greater Chennai Corporation to form town vending committees for each zone, hold elections
The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) will hold elections to elect members of 15 Town Vending Committees (TVCs) — one for each zone — representing 35,588 registered vendors. A resolution regarding this was passed by the GCC Council, chaired by Mayor R. Priya with Commissioner J. Kumaragurubaran, on Wednesday (May 28, 2025) at the Ripon Buildings in Chennai. Each committee will have 15 members. This comes close on the heels of the GCC designating 150 vending and 188 non-vending zones in April this year. Last year, the civic body constituted a singular vending committee for the whole of the city. The formation of zonal-level committees comes after many residents and vendors suggested that the GCC assign regional and sub-vending committees to address several issues flagged by them. The move, under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, is based on Government Order 4(D) No. 23, dated May 16, 2025, the resolution stated. According to the GCC, each TVC will include the Regional Deputy Commissioner as Chairperson, and officials from the Corporation, police, and local bodies as members. Six members will be elected from among street vendors, with one seat each reserved for individuals belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Other Backward Class (OBC), and minorities, besides persons with disabilities, women, and the general category. Two representatives from traders' associations, two from NGOs or community-based organisations, and one from a residents' welfare association will be a part of the TVCs. Elections will be held on June 26 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. across all zones. Nominations will be accepted from June 16 to 18, with the scrutiny to be held on June 19. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is June 20. Final lists of candidates will be published on the same day. The counting of votes and declaration of results will take place on June 27, as per the schedule in the resolution passed. Returning Officers will be appointed to oversee the polling process, the GCC added.
The Hindu
02-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Residents complain about poor digital services at e-seva centres in Greater Chennai Corporation wards
A growing number of residents across Chennai are voicing their frustration over the poor delivery of digital services at e-seva centres, which were meant to be a bridge between citizens and government departments and make the public-state interface smooth. Complaints have been pouring in from multiple neighbourhoods about long queues, malfunctioning systems, and centres that have not opened since the pandemic. Residents said the Greater Chennai Corporation's (GCC) recent announcement of plans to establish new e-seva centres in all 200 wards to improve access to services such as Aadhaar updates, income and nativity certificates, was a welcome move, but it needed to first ensure that the existing e-seva centres were functional. They also urged the government to specify a timeline for this, and stick to it. 'In ward 182, residents come every day asking when the e-seva centre will reopen,' said K.P.K. Sathish Kumar, Opposition Leader in the GCC Council. The Perungudi zone centre, once run by Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Limited (TACTV) and inaugurated by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in 2015, has remained non-operational since the pandemic-induced lockdown. The situation is no better in north Chennai. 'People are being sent to taluk office centres for basic services,' said T.K. Shanmugam, president of the Federation of North Chennai Residents' Welfare Associations. 'The coordination between departments is lacking. These centres should be efficient, and help people finish their tasks fast, not be a bigger burden for them,' he added. Geetha Ganesh, secretary of the AGS Colony Residents' Welfare Association, pointed to systemic inefficiencies. 'The token system is never followed when there are crowds, and network issues are routine. For Aadhaar-related work, we're told to go elsewhere. That defeats the purpose of a one-stop neighbourhood digital centre,' she said. While this has always been the case, the pressure has started mounting, as it usually does ahead of summer exam results, when thousands of students and families will require certificates to put in their applications for college admissions. With 60% of private centres — licensed by the Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency or the Government of India — shut down due to poor viability, residents have naturally turned to the government, in this case, the GCC, for answers. Lack of trained staff is another major hurdle. 'Many centres that did reopen are unable or unwilling to provide full services due to their staff's inadequate training,' said a councillor, adding that both staff and infrastructure need urgent upgrades.
