Politicians woo Ganesh Mandals before polls

It seems that politicians are leaving no stone unturned to woo the Ganesh Mandals before the assembly elections. This is being done to an extent that the corporators from the ruling party have announced that the Mandals shouldn’t pay the fees to the PMC authorities as per the rules. Though the authorities have claimed the move can be implemented only if there is a formal decision, the Mandal trustees have demanded that the corporators should pay the cost.

Pune Municipal Corporation has already started giving permissions to the Ganesh Mandals for the Pandals. Along with the main Pandal, the authorities are also asking the mandals to pay additionally for the arches erected for the on the side and at the entrances of the pandals. While the charges are being levied as per the rules, the mandal trustees are claiming that this is sending their financial planning for a toss. Though the mandals use these arches for advertisements for generating the revenue, they have claimed that PMC shouldn’t charge additionally.

Taking a cue from the demand, the corporators from the ruling party have now asked the Ganesh Mandals not to pay any money to the PMC. They have also asked the administration to start giving permissions for the pandals without asking for these charges. Claiming that a resolution with this has already been passed in 1992, the corporators have announced that no mandal should pay the amount henceforth. The corporators Hemant Rasane and Ajay Khedekar have also announced that they will be tabling a fresh resolution in the upcoming standing committee meeting too.

Hemant Rasane said, “Standing committee members have already passed a resolution regarding this in 1992. However, somehow, the PMC authorities have started charging for this amount since last 4 to 5 years. It isn’t the case that the PMC earns a lot of money through this. So we appeal to the Ganesh Mandals not to pay this money to PMC. The permissions will be taken care of. We will soon be passing a fresh resolution for this if the need be”

PMC authorities however claimed that the decision can be taken only after a formal resolution. When quizzed about this, an official from the encroachment department which is currently looking after the process of giving permissions stated that a resolution that the corporators are referring to did exist. He said, “The amount that was being charged is for the repairs that are to be conducted later on. Whether the charges can be withdrawn or not is something that will be decided at the level of commissioner based on the resolution.”

While the trustees welcomed the move, they also demanded that the PMC shouldn’t have to suffer losses. Anna Thorat, president, Akhil Mandai Mandal said, “We had put forth this demand in the very first meeting that was held by the authorities and it seems that our demand got heard. However even if the charges aren’t to be paid by the mandals, we feel that the local corporators or the members of standing committee should pay the sum. PMC shouldn’t have to bare the losses.”

Another trustee of Ganeshotsav Mandal Kiran Sali said, “There were similar promises made last year too. However this never got implemented. If they feel they should formally pass a resolution and publish a letter with the demand to the authorities. Just making promises won’t help.”