Nine agendas have been discussed thoroughly in a Board Meeting of city’s Municipal Council ( Nagar Parishad) held today, out of all, two subjects were considered primarily as per the sensitivity of the concern issue. First, a proposal of constructing Late Lt.Archit Verdia’s Memorial or a road to be named on the Lt Archit who was martyred in Siachin army camp a few months back. Second major issue was fair and social programmes on festivals of Dusshera and Diwali which is well known as Dusshera Diwali Mela . One of the suggestions from a councilor was to shift the fair venue to more open space than the Town Hall. Both the opposition and the ruling party members put their suggestions and discussed all the matters, but the case of Archit Verdia’s memorial will be discussed again in the next board meeting. Parishad’s Chairman, Vice president and all the councilors were present in the meeting that started in the evening and continued till night. Lt.Archit Verdia Memorial As soon as the discussion of memorial of martyred Lieutenant Archit Verdia had started, Councilor Ayyub Khan objected stating that there are other two jawans ( one Prakash Khateek , a police commando killed in attack on April 19^th this year) who also laid down their lives while serving the nation but their names are not included in this agenda. He insisted to consider those two names with Archit Verdia. The subject fueled a hot debate between both the parties. Councilor Archana Sharma agreed to Ayub Khan’s point and blamed the administration for taking the decision without mutual concern. The Chairman ruled out the allegations and said that other names could not be included because they were not registered in the agenda before deadline. Archana Sharma said, “We all agree and respect the contribution of all the three martyred army and policemen then what is the need of following all formalities and norms. Their names should be added irrespective of any rules of registration etc.” After a series of arguments on the issue no decision could be taken and the matter is postponed for the next board meeting. Dusshera-Diwali Mela 2011 Every year Nagar Parishad Udaipur organizes a 8 day cultural festival and fair on the occasion of Dusshera and Diwali which also gives good revenue to Parishad and give a platform for the artists to perform and brings fun and recreation for the common people. In a board meeting today, councilor Ajay Porwal suggested to the administration to shift the venue of this fair due to lack of space for events and parking both. He asked to organize this event at Fateh School campus. But other councilors objected Porwal’s idea to shift the venue. Parshad, Paras Singhvi said, “Organizing the event at Town Hall gives the feeling of the host of the event. As Nagar Parishad is organizing this every year, we feel more contented to operate it from town hall than any other place.” ”We arrange all security measures and parking facilities to avoid any mishap”, he added. Parshad, Nafisa Saif has suggested to organize all events keeping our cultural and traditional values at the top priority and no vulgar or disrespectful programme should be permitted in the event. The Board also revived the expenditure cost of fair by reducing it to Rs. 48 lakhs as compared to Rs.55 lakhs spent last year. They also decided to close all programmes on the day of Dhanteras and Diwali as it affects the business in nearby Bapu Bazar Market. Other topics which were discussed in the meeting included cleaning of Pichola Lake, to give BPL category to those who are suffering from fatal diseases, expenses of taking care of street animals in Animal Shelter, allotting land ‘patta’ to certain areas and compensating employee of the fire department. The last meeting of Parishad was held on June 1, 2011. ( news here) Report By Sayeed Ahmed, Editing by Poonam Arora