Appointment of 28-year-old Ms. Suganya, daughter of an ex-MLA from the as the CEO of invites backlash.

The Coimbatore Smart Cities Limited (CSCL) is having a serious rethink on the appointment of Chief Executive Officer R. Suganya.

Highly placed sources, familiar with the developments of the last few days, confirmed to The Hindu that there will be a development in the next few days. The Appointment of 28-year-old Ms. Suganya, who had almost no exposure to urban governance and was the daughter of an ex-MLA from the AIADMK, as the CEO of the CSCL to oversee Smart City projects worth crores of rupees invited backlash from the city’s residents and industry associations that sought the appointment of an experienced person.

The sources said that as far as the CSCL was concerned it was a matter of when, and not if to effect the change. And, more importantly, how. To ensure that the method to be adopted to effect the change was legally sustainable, the CSCL had consulted persons with experience in company law and corporate governance.

The sources said that the CSCL had two ways – convene the Board and have a resolution passed at the Board meeting as it has the powers to ratify or not ratify the appointment. Or, effect the change through the Managing Director.

Meanwhile, the CSCL was also looking at peer cities selected for Smart City mission to see how those cities had made appointments to important positions in their respective companies.

The sources said that Ahmedabad, Dharamshala and Vijayawada had provided the clues.

Meanwhile, the CEO, Ms. Suganya, held meetings with officials to understand the projects under implementation and those to be implemented under the Smart Cities mission. She had assumed office on August 11.