Mayor and Commissioner received award in New Delhi
Chennai was commended for measures such as online tender system, online property tax collection, etc.
The Chennai Corporation has won a national award for excellence in municipal initiatives outshining major cities, including Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.
Mayor M. Subramanian and Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni received the award from Union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy at a conference on the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Research and ratings firm CRISIL in partnership with the Urban Development Ministry evaluated seven mega cities  Delhi, Greater Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad  to assess their commitment to urban reforms and the progress made since the launch of the JNNURM.
Chennai was commended for several new initiatives including online tender systems, online property tax collection, provision of birth certificates within 24 hours of an infant’s birth and engaging burial ground workers as Corporation staff.
A panel of retired and senior bureaucrats including D.M. Sukthankar, former chief secretary of Maharashtra, Urban Development Ministry joint secretary M. Rajamani, and US Agency for International Development programme manager Nabaroon Bhattacharjee evaluated the entries received for the award.
