Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said the government will limit the vast powers residing with secretaries of local self-government (LSG) bodies with regard to building rules.“A few amendments to the rules for ‘Ease of Doing Business’ shifting powers from the LSG council to the secretary will also be revised,” Pinarayi said in reply to a notice moved by the Opposition in the assembly for a discussion on the suicide of Sajan Parayil, a non-resident Keralite.
“The Municipalities Act and the Panchayat Raj Act give vast powers to the secretary. The council lacks the power to make decisions or hear appeals. A review petition against the secretary’s decision can be filed only at the LSG Tribunal in Thiruvananthapuram,” he said.
The government will take steps to establish tribunals in Kochi and Kozhikode to reduce the average time for disposing of the appeals from the current 6-12 months to one month. At present, the secretary is the final authority to make decisions on building permit applications and can even overrule the recommendation of the LSG engineer, Pinarayi said.