Ex-MLA’s daughter resigns as Smart City CEO in Kovai

Accepting her resignation, Coimbatore Corporation issued a press release stating that she had decided to quit the job in just two weeks of appointment as she could not take the criticism ‘though she was fully qualified and was chosen for the assignment without violating any norms’.

Corporation Commissioner and Special Officer K Vijayakarthikeyan is the Managing Director of CSCL, the special purpose vehicle to implement the Smart Cities project of the Government of India. On August 1, an interview was conducted for filling the vacant post of CEO, CSCL.

Suguna was one among the qualified and eligible candidates who had applied and interviewed for the post. She was selected and an offer letter was given to her for a tenure of three years on August 4. She assumed office on August 11 amid strong criticism from corporation officials, public and political parties.

Major flaws in her appointment that were alleged included relaxing the eligibility criteria beyond compare. It was noted that Suganya had only three years of total experience and a major share of it was as a human resources executive in a couple of private firms and that she did not have any experience that was even close to what the position demanded.

This was against the eligibility criteria of 15 years-experience, including five years in the urban sector that was first issued when the advertisement was released for the position. It was later reduced to three years, after which an interview was conducted for the second time in which Suganya was appointed.

Alleging heavy political lobbying behind the appointment to handle funds to the tune of several hundred crore rupees, various political parties, including the DMK, BJP and PMK staged protests and wrote to the State and Union Government and also launched an online campaign seeking the removal of Suganya from the position. Suganya and top officials could not be reached for comments. However, a press release from the corporation stated that her resignation letter has been accepted and the Managing Director of CSCL and the city Corporation Commissioner Vijayakarthikeyan will hold additional charge as CEO.