Pune Suseong-gu MoU, Open Letter to Mayor and Commissioner

To,

1) Hon'ble Mrs. Vaishali Bankar,

Mayor, Pune Municipal Corporation

Pune.

2) Hon'ble Mr. Mahesh Pathak, IAS,

Commissioner, Pune Municipal Corporation

Pune

 Dear Madam /Sir,

Recently some of the elected members of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and an officer from PMC visited the City of Suseong -gu and signed a Memorandum of Understanding for friendly exchange between two cities. As per this MoU both cities shall establish close friendly relationship to develop cooperation based on mutual respect and benefit.

It is a good thing that Pune city is trying to established friendly relations with a foreign city so long as it is within the four boundaries of the law of the land. According to the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation (BPMC) Act, approval from the General Body of the Corporation is mandatory for all acts done on behalf of PMC. It is inconceivable that the Mayor goes against the provisions of the BPMC Act. Hence, I shall be obliged if you can make these approvals public.

As per established norms, the responsibility for establishing friendly relations with foreign countries vests with the Central Government. Or at least permission of such departments is essential before developing friendly relations with foreign cities. I request you to make such permissions public.

According to reference No. II/21022/58(97)/2011-FCRA-I, Government of India/Bharat Sarkar, Ministry of Home Affairs/Grih Mantralaya, Foreigners Division (FCRA Wing), “No member of a Legislature or office-bearer of a political party or Judge or Government servant or employee of any corporation or any other body owned or controlled by the Government shall, while visiting any country or territory outside India, accept, except with the prior permission of the Central Government, any foreign hospitality.” Please also let the public have the prior permission taken from the Central Government for this tour to Korea.

As per MoU both cities shall improve understanding of residents of the region and shall support exchange activities in education, culture, medicine, economy, urban development and areas of mutual concern. Developing relations for activities in education, culture, medicine, economy, urban development with foreign countries is the responsibility of ministries or departments concerned of the Central Government and instructions exist in this regard. Has PMC appropriated these responsibilities to itself from the ministries or departments concerned? I request you to make copies of these appropriations available to the public.

As per the MoU, both cities shall promote mutual exchange based on this MOU and shall do their best to promote exchanges in the private sector. This MoU was signed on 12^th June 2013 and Committee members were in Suseong - gu until 17 June. Hence, there must have been discussions about mutual exchanges with the private sector also. I request you to make the minutes of such discussions public.