Pune Civic Body Bans Electronic Media Entry During General Body Meeting

Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) Mayor Manjusha Nagpure, in a statement on Monday, said that electronic media has been banned from the civic body's general body meeting.

As per the statement, this ban has been imposed following the circulation of videos featuring female corporators on social media platforms.

Allegations have been raised that distorted and sensationalised reports are being fabricated based on instances where corporators are observed looking at their mobile phones during the general body meeting, the statement added.

After holding discussions with House Leader Ganesh Bidkar, instructions were issued to formulate a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) regarding this matter.

This comes after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporator Surendra Pathare's video went viral on social media. In the video, Pathare was seen looking at his phone during the meeting. A media house shared the video claiming that he was watching reels on his phone while in the House.

Meanwhile, the PMC has put forward a proposal to appoint 40 contractual employees to streamline the functioning of offices held by key elected representatives, including the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, leader of the house, Standing Committee Chairman, Leader of the Opposition and group leaders of various political parties.

The proposal, submitted by Municipal Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram, will be placed before the general body after review by the standing committee. The move aims to address the increasing workload and ensure smooth day-to-day operations in these offices.