Introduction
1st June 1993, is considered a landmark in the history of
local governance in India,
as on this day the Constitution (Seventy
- Fourth Amendment) Act, 1992
(74th CAA, 1992) came into force. This Act for the first time in India’s Constitutional history accorded
constitutional status to municipal governments in India in order to initiate a
process of democratic decentralisation accompanied by accountability,
responsiveness and transparency. Decentralised
Democracy in a Federal Structure meant devolution of powers from centre to
state and from state to the local level, thus creating a third tier of
governance.
The challenges to urban governance are manifold
and complex – cities being seen as drivers of economic growth, the consequent
magnetic pull to cities (population and resources) and the stresses of managing
this influx. The vying for resources, civic amenities and services, are
consequently leading to marginalisation and informalisation of the socially and
economically poorer sections from living and working spaces in the cities. Devolution of powers, decentralisation and increased people's
participation in local governance, would enable city governance to better cope
with these challenges and improve its responsiveness to people's needs, in a
more inclusive manner.
This study, is therefore, the initiation of a process of examining
the functioning and performance of urban local governments in Maharashtra, post
implementation of 74th CAA, 1992, with a view to seeking greater
accountability of these urban local bodies, and at the same time trying to
explore as to how these local governments could function and perform more
effectively, to especially cater to the needs of the socially and economically
marginalised populations.
Three Municipal Corporations of Mumbai, Nagpur and Nashik have been selected for the
study, as these three cities represent three sizes, stages and nature of
urbanisation, and are also governed by 3 different Municipal Acts.
Methodology
Minutes of the meetings of the General Body (GB) of the three
Municipal Corporations for the year 2005-06, individual interviews with a few
senior councillors, leaders of various political parties and officials from
various departments and review of the major Acts impinging urban governance in
these three cities has been the data used for this analysis.
Key Findings from Analysis of Minutes of General Body Meetings Held
in Mumbai, Nashik and Nagpur
Municipal Corporations in 2005-2006
1. Adherence to Procedures and
Rules
|
Sr.No.
|
Type of Procedures
|
Mumbai Municipal Corporation
|
Nagpur Municipal Corporation
|
Nashik Municipal Corporation
|
|
1.
|
Meeting of General Body of the Corporation
– Once a month
|
55 meetings held in 2005-06. On average 4
meetings per month.
|
11
meetings held in 2005-06. On an average one meeting a month. However,
for 5 months i.e. from 23.7.05 to 20.12.05 no meetings were held.
|
16 meetings held in 2005-06. On an average
meetings held once or twice a month.
|
|
2.
|
Quorum
|
One fifth or 45
councillors must be present. The attendance range is 136 – 222. (Total Councillors 227)
|
One half for Special Meeting and One Third
for General Meeting. The attendance range is from 100 – 135 Councillors.
(Total 136)
|
One-third or 36 councillors
must be present. The attendance range is 78 – 104. (Total Councillors 108)
|
|
3.
|
Agenda of the General Body
|
Agenda circulated seven clear days before
the General Body Meeting.
|
Agenda circulated seven clear days before
the General Body Meeting and three clear days before Special Meeting.
|
Agenda circulated seven clear days before
the General Body Meeting.
|
|
4.
|
Legislative Tools
|
Point of Order, Notice of Motion,
Interpellations, Adjournment Motions used by councillors.
|
No such tools found to be used except
Point of Order.
|
No such tools found to be used. Only tool
found is Calling Attention Motion.
|
|
5.
|
Budget presentation for 2005-06.
|
Budget discussions were held in month of March 05.
|
Budget discussion held in July and
December 05 meetings of the General Body. The budget was rejected by majority
78 vs 43 in the December 05
meeting.Hence,Commissioners Budget became the budget for the year, which is
legally allowed under Section 86 (4) of the CNC Act, 1948.
|
Budget discussion held in March 05.
|
|
6.
|
Presentation of Environment Status Report
by the Commissioner.
|
Environment Status Report for 2004-05
presented in 21st October 2005 General Body Meeting.
|
Environment Status Report prepared annually and submitted to the
state since 2006.
|
Environment Status Report prepared annually and submitted to the
state since 2006. Report is not presented to the General Body.
|
|
7.
|
Audit Report
|
In 2005-06 the audit report of previous
year (2004-05) not found to be tabled.
Audit Report 2001-2002 presented in
2005-06 to Standing Committee on 28.9.05. Audit Reports not prepared and
submitted yearly. Backlog exists.
|
Not found to be tabled in 2005-06.
|
Not found to be tabled in 2005-06.
|
2. Conduct of Business in the House
Municipal
Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) is
the oldest Municipal Corporation in Maharashtra
and there is certain maturity demonstrated in its administrative practices and
conduct of business in the House. Codified rules and regulations for conducting
business in a separate publication – Corporation Procedure Rules and
Regulations – in addition to a chapter on the Proceedings
of the Corporation in the MMC Act, 1888,
has enabled systematic procedures.
The other two, younger Municipal Corporations
have specified some rules and procedures, but they are not comprehensive, nor
are they codified by a special publication as in Mumbai. For Nagpur Municipal Corporation, the CNC
Act, 1948, has a chapter on Conduct of Business, but there is no mention of
legislative tools to be used by the Councillors during the meetings of the
Corporation, nor is there any mention of a prescribed order for conducting
business as exists in Mumbai’s MMC
Act, 1888.
In
Nashik, the BPMC Act, 1949 has a chapter on Proceedings of the Corporation, its statutory Committees
and other Committees. However it has not
identified the various legislative tools to be used for deliberation in the
House, nor is there a protocol designed to manage meeting agendas. Meanwhile,
Nashik Municipal Corporation has prepared rules for conducting meetings vide
section 454 and 457 (2) and (17) respectively of the BPMC Act, 1949 approved by
the Government of Maharashtra. In
practice it is found that Councillors in Nashik Municipal Corporation often use
Calling Attention (a tool used in the Legislative Assembly), instead of Point
of Order.
Legislative tools are important because they provide mechanisms for
dealing with divergent viewpoints and often heated debates that emerge in a democratic,
deliberative process. For example in
Mumbai, members of the opposition tabled a no-confidence motion against the
Mayor, based on allegations of fraud. In
contrast, in Nashik, heated debates regarding allegations of corruption against
the administration disrupted one meeting a total of four times, simply because
the Commissioner was not present in the meeting to provide necessary
clarifications.
In Nagpur Municipal Corporation, the situation seems to be graver with
instances of acrimonious behaviour in the house as described in Box 1.
|
Box 1:
A House Divided in Nagpur
At
least two instances of acrimonious behaviour in 2005-06 significantly
disrupted the business of the Municipal Corporation in Nagpur.
In one case, the ruling party did not allow the opposition parties to
make suggestions during the Commissioner’s budget presentation. In the end the budget was rejected by
majority vote, which included Councillors from the Opposition and Ruling
parties.
In
another incident, a former Mayor of Nagpur used unparliamentary language and
violated the directions of the current Mayor. Both were from the same political party.
When the current Mayor suspended him from the day’s proceedings, he refused
to accept it. Surprisingly, the
majority backed the former Mayor instead of supporting his suspension from
the day’s proceedings. The lack of
protocols for managing the business of the Corporation, combined with
factionalism within the ruling party of the Municipal Corporation, resulted
in the Councillors legitimising the rowdy conduct of the former Mayor and
condoning acrimonious behaviour within the House.
|
There has also been an instance of one of the meetings being
adjourned, without any discussion, as the Commissioners were absent in the
meeting. Minutes of this meeting state “The members wanted to discuss important
issues like water and committee formation for weaker sections of society.
However, as Commissioners were absent who will listen and implement the ruling
given by the Mayor” (Nagpur Corporation GB minutes, 28.02.2006).
Mumbai Municipal Corporation has prescribed
procedures for paying homage to the deceased – namely, the death of a sitting
Councillor, Ex-Presidents, Ex-Mayors and distinguished persons who have
rendered noteworthy service to the city or the country. The meeting may be
adjourned for a Shraddhanjali (Hindi
for ‘homage to the deceased’) at the discretion of the Mayor and is usually
done so after the entire business for the day is discussed. During 2005-06,
five out of 55 meetings were adjourned in MCGM after paying homage, without
conducting any other business.
In Nagpur
and Nashik Municipal Corporations, however, no such procedures were found to be
followed. In Nashik Municipal Corporation in 2005-06, three out of total
sixteen meetings were adjourned after paying homage and nearly 50 items in the
remaining 14 meetings discussed Shraddhanjali
proposals.
In Nashik and Nagpur Municipal Corporations
there is also a convention to have “congratulation proposals”. In Nagpur
Municipal Corporation, out of the total of 11 meetings in 2005-06, two were
adjourned after discussing only congratulations proposals. In Nashik Municipal
Corporation, there were about 21 congratulatory proposals discussed at the
beginning of 7 meetings.
While expressions of grief and joy are
important and some conventions are in place for this purpose, it is also
critical to have adequate frameworks to ensure sufficient time for conducting
civic business.
It must be
mentioned that the proposals for land use change are not necessarily given
approval. However, the fact that these proposals have figured most frequently
in the General Body discussions, indicates the instigation for the rising land
values and spurt in construction activity in the three cities.
Infrastructure, specifically proposals for “roads and bridges”, is the second most frequent item on the
agendas of the three Corporations. Since the financial range of these proposals
varies from lakhs to crores of rupees, they are required to be cleared by the
General Bodies of the Corporations after getting approval from the Standing
Committee. In Mumbai besides 21 proposals for construction or improvement of
road infrastructure, there were 91 items on the agenda of General Body of MCGM
on naming of roads, streets, chowks and maidans, which if counted
would exceed the number of proposals on regulation of land-use. There were 2 such items in Nashik Municipal
Corporation. Such proposals did not appear on Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s
agenda.
In Mumbai, there
is also frequent inclusion of proposals related to “water supply”. While some
of the agenda’s pertained to proposals for refurbishment of old water lines,
etc., bulk of the water-related agenda was a monthly reporting by the Municipal
Commissioner to the General Body on the levels in the lakes that supply water
to the city. Such reports are not tabled in the other two Municipal
Corporations. Discussions on water in the other two Corporations were related
to supply shortage, water contamination, infrastructure maintenance and
enhancement, as well as one discussion in Nashik Corporation on water taxation
in the context of JNNURM proposal to increase taxes on a no profit-no loss
basis. Healthy discussion on this crucial matter of water pricing was noticed,
with the General Body deliberating on loss reducing mechanisms, rather than
readily accepting the proposal to hike prices.
““Public health” related agendas were also considerable in number, especially in
MCGM. Of the 60 items discussed, 28 items were human resource related
(primarily proposals for appointment of doctors in teaching positions in
various municipal hospitals), 17 items were on hospital renovations and up
gradations and 7 items were on outsourcing dispensaries and maternity homes on
caretaker basis to various private institutions. In Nashik Municipal
Corporation, of the 12 public health agendas, 7 were for setting up anganwadis, while others were
one-off discussions on malaria, dengue and chikungunya; recruitment of doctors
and training of nurses. A fair number of agenda’s related to “sanitation” were also discussed in all
three Corporations, primarily regarding installation of storm water drains,
sewerage lines, gutters and toilets in the cities.
Nashik Municipal Corporation discussed 11 items pertaining to “provision of urban amenities and
facilities such as parks, gardens, playgrounds” as there is a policy of the
Corporation to protect open plots by fencing or giving them to institutions for
maintenance or for public gardens and jogging tracks for citizens. This policy
serves to prevent formation of slums on these open plots. Nagpur Municipal Corporation
had no discussion regarding open spaces and similar amenities, while Mumbai
only had one discussion item on this agenda in the year of analysis.
“Promotion of cultural and educational aspects” has received some attention in all three Municipal Corporations.
Although, as per the BPMC Act of the Nashik Municipal Corporation it is a
discretionary function, there was considerable focus on cultural and education
oriented activities, which included, a grant to Sane Guruji Kathamala,
construction of an auditorium for cultural programmes, construction of
libraries, construction of school and increase in wages for teachers. In MCGM
there was some amount of discussion on the deteriorating standard of education
in MCGM Schools and lack of infrastructure and
on recommendations of Dhanuka Committee. The one discussion in
Nagpur Municipal Corporation was on the “glaring instances of disorder, lack of
direction and control of the education system” and the very poor
implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Problems cited were lack
of qualified teachers and unqualified teachers teaching multiple subjects with
overlapping languages of Hindi, Marathi and Urdu.
Matters that can be considered under the function of “safeguarding the interests of weaker
sections of society, including the handicapped and mentally retarded”,
appear 7 times in Mumbai, while only once in Nagpur and Nashik Municipal Corporations
respectively. In MCGM, discussions included a policy discussion on a proposal
for providing employment and housing to the mill workers, a proposal to create
insurance schemes for conservancy workers as well as income generation schemes
for the blind and handicapped. Reviving Zunka Bakar Scheme as a means of
providing employment to sons-of-the-soil was a policy discussion initiated
through a Notice of Motion. In Nashik too the one agenda was of similar nature
– pertaining to promotion of livelihood. In this case it was the construction
of shop spaces in every ward for cobblers from the 5% backward class welfare
fund of the Nashik Corporation. In Nagpur the one agenda on the minutes was for
the formation of the Weaker Sections Welfare Committee. However, due to the
absence of the Commissioner in this meeting, the House was adjourned and no
decision on this was taken.
While one can
consider a number of discussions, especially pertaining to basic services such
as water, sanitation, ICDS, etc. as catering to the urban poor populations in
these cities, more strategic discussions pertaining to “slum improvement and up gradation” and “urban poverty alleviation” were sparsely discussed in the General
Body of all the three Corporations. When one sees the large and growing
proportion of slum population to total population, these two duties deserve
more attention than it is receiving. Nashik Municipal Corporation had one
discussion on the need to address the problem of growing populations and
slum-like living conditions as fallouts of urbanisation. Here, the House
“unanimously agreed to address the slum issues within the existing slum policy” – meaning, provision of 225 sq. ft. tenements
to slum dwellers having proofs of residence prior to 1995.
The only two
discussions in Nagpur Municipal Corporation were about the poor implementation
of poverty alleviation programmes. One was about the failure to effectively
implement the Swarna Jayanti Rojgar Yojana
resulting in “non-payment to women for months together, forcing them to borrow
heavily from middle-men, pulling them into heavy indebtedness and starvation”. The other discussion was
about the non-implementation of a Rs. 8 crore grant allocation for slum
improvement, leading to its lapse.
While “slum
improvement and up gradation” and “urban poverty alleviation” are discretionary
duties in all three Municipal Acts, the function of “urban forestry, protection of the environment and promotion of
ecological aspects” enlisted in the 12th Schedule is an
obligatory duty in all three Corporations. However, this again was very
sparsely discussed.
Finally, apart
from the routine budget discussions, no discussions for an integrated approach
to “planning for economic and social
development” featured in the General Body discussions of all three
Corporations. Meanwhile, what has been noticed in several places in this one
year of the General Bodies discussions, are discussions to privatise basic
services, such as maternity homes, solid waste management, open spaces and
public recreational spaces such as gymnasiums and sports grounds. Essential
services of water, sanitation, shelter, health, education and recreation must
be treated as basic human rights, as enshrined in the United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights to which the Indian State
is a signatory. Privatisation of essential services, is necessarily followed by
price rise, reducing access to these services. Universal access to essential
services can only be ensured when kept in the public domain of urban local
governments.
On the whole,
this snapshot of one year’s General Body discussions, reveal low levels of
inclusiveness in the discussion priorities across these three Municipal
Corporations – governing cities that are prototypes of three stages of
urbanisation. The largest number of agendas across all three Municipal
Corporations pertain to change in land regulations. This clearly reflects
ambitions of fast paced urbanisation. This is however, inadequately supported
by discussions to address concerns of inclusiveness in the urbanisation
process, failing which, the fallout will be growing marginalisation,
exploitation, poverty and social unrest.
4. Accountability of the
Municipal Corporations.
Analysis of Minutes to understand accountability of the three
Municipal Corporations on six criteria i.e. prevalence of malpractices,
corruption and alleged frauds; acrimonious behaviour; number of inquiries
conducted, reasons for conducting inquiries, follow ups and tabling of reports;
wastages; unfinished business and delays and privatisation of basic services
and outsourcing of work by the Municipal Corporations, throw light on the functioning
of these corporations and their accountability to the citizens.
4.1 Prevalence
of Malpractices, Corruption and Alleged Frauds.
There were malpractices, corruption and alleged frauds raised in all
three Municipal Corporations in 2005-06. There were allegations of corruption
against the administration as well as fellow Councillors in Mumbai, allocation
of contracts to the highest bidder instead of a lower bidder in Nashik and
allegations of a nexus between the contractors and the administration in Nagpur. This however, we also see as indicative of
the positive role of some Councillors in serving as watchdogs, taking steps to uncover
and address these instances of alleged corruption.
In Mumbai, the Councillors exposed malpractices in the Estate and
Market Department, particularly bringing out a case, in which, several new
markets and galas (shops) allotted to
Project Affected People (PAP) were kept vacant for nearly five years. After this time lapse, the Market Department
called for tender on 25th July 2005 for 10 markets. Meanwhile, a developer sold 86 galas which should have been allotted to
PAP, causing a loss of revenue to the Corporation in several crores. The
developer was arrested and agreed to pay market rate for galas available with him.
The Mumbai Corporation also experienced allegations of malpractices
against the Mayor for allotting a contract to clean nallas (open drains) worth Rs.4.5 crore without discussing it in
the Standing Committee. When the Leader of Opposition proposed a ‘no confidence motion’ against him,
the Mayor responded to the charges of corruption by staunchly defending
himself, stating that he had acted in the best interest of the city. The no-confidence motion was put to vote and
defeated.
In Nagpur, the Councillors raised doubt about
a proposal to construct a new premises for the Corporation, the cost of which
shot up to nearly three times the original estimates, from Rs. 13.5 crore in
2003 to Rs. 38 crore, 81 lakh in 2005. While questioning the accountability of
the project, they pointed out that the recording of the proposal being
unanimously approved is wrong, when only 12 members had given approval.
There were also two allegations of corruption related to electricity
provision in Nagpur Corporation. One was about 25,000 electric poles in the
city of Nagpur
not working. The electric company given the contract for maintenance of
streetlights failed to do their job and it was demanded to terminate the
contract.
The demand to terminate was approved by the General Body but was implemented
only in 2007.
In a separate case, the Government of India project - Generation of electricity from the waste in the Nagpur city - came under cloud due to
detection of fraudulent transaction to tune of Rs. 32 lakh. The Councillors
alleged that the institution the Corporation engaged for this transaction did
not in fact exist. The work was not done in the specified time limit and the
bank guarantee turned out to be bogus. While the Mayor gave a
ruling to file an FIR (First Information Report) with an investigation to be
conducted within 15 days, meeting minutes show little indication of follow-up.
These instances of malpractices in Nagpur
Municipal Corporation raise serious questions about the role of the Administration
as well as the elected Councillors.
Proposals appear to be tabled in the Corporation without any scrutiny
from the administration, while the elected representatives have not been
successful in stalling them.
In Nashik,
Councillors alleged corruption against the administration for allotting a
garbage disposal contract that increased the annual cost of the service by Rs.
154,80,000, within three years. At the insistence of several Nashik
Councillors, a writ petition was eventually filed in the High Court, with a
decision in October 2005 to re-tender for the bid. In another case, the Nashik Municipal
Corporation granted a contract for work on a double-entry accounting system to
a company with a bid of Rs. 383,00,000 instead of giving it to the lowest
bidder who offered to do the same work for Rs. 163,00,000 (a difference of Rs. 2
crore 20 lakhs).
Following discussions, inquiries and legal counsel, the tender given to the
highest bidder was cancelled and the Municipal Corporation invited a new tender
to carry out the work. Exposure of
malpractices by vigilant Councillors in Nashik prevented the loss of public
money. Yet, these incidents raise questions about functioning of the Standing
Committee, which has the duty to scrutinise proposals and allocate contracts
appropriately.
Prevalence of corruption and malpractices is a stark
reality. Decentralising powers of Urban Local Bodies to the ward level through
Ward Committees and opening up the Committee to the people, will curb
corruption and make decisions more accountable and need based. Systems such as
public disclosure of information through standardised Management Information
Systems (MIS) reports will also foster greater accountability. As one of the
mandatory reforms under JNNURM, the Public Disclosure Law was enacted by the
state as Maharashtra Municipal Corporations and Municipal Councils (Second
Amendment) Act, 2007. The regular disclosure of reports stipulated under the
Act through newspaper, internet, notice boards of Corporation offices and other
modes must be implemented with immediate effect.
4.2 Acrimonious Behaviour
Acrimonious behaviour is found more prevalent in Nagpur and Nashik Municipal Corporations than
Mumbai, the reason being that the Councillors in Mumbai use legislative tools
to register their protests. There have been incidences of Walk Out being
undertaken by the opposition parties after the ruling parties passed items to
which there was an objection from the opposition parties. There was also an incident of tabling of
no-confidence motion against the Mayor by the opposition parties alleging fraud. Thus the Councillors in
Mumbai have taken recourse to legislative tools to ventilate their grievances
against the ruling party. Whereas, in Nagpur Municipal Corporation it was found
that the ruling party was not allowing the opposition parties to make
suggestions during budget presentation leading to rejection of budget by the
majority.
Factionalism found within the ruling party of the Municipal Corporation in Nagpur in 2005-06, has
also led to condoning of acrimonious behaviour by Councillors within the house.
In Nashik Corporation, it has been noticed that non-availability of
concerned administrative authorities in General Body meetings have led to
acrimonious disruptions of proceedings (at least four times of the total 17
meetings held in the year), based on allegations of corruption against the
administration made by the Councillors.
4. 3 Inquiries Conducted, Reasons, Follow up
and Tabling of Reports
Although the
Commissioner or any other authorities are required to present reports, there
are rare instances when reports are tabled within the stipulated time frame and
action taken against erring parties on inquiry reports.
The reports tabled in Mumbai are of different types i.e. the
Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai has been requested to present feasibility
reports on
various proposals, where as in Nagpur Municipal Corporation and Nashik
Municipal Corporation, the enquiry reports are pertaining to misbehaviour or
malfunctioning or alleged scams. 122 reports since 1997 have not been
submitted by the successive Commissioners to the MCGM. Eighteen resolutions
from 11th April 2005 to 28th June 2005 are listed in
which the Commissioner has not tabled reports to the General Body of MCGM.
In Nagpur Municipal Corporation inquiry
was to be conducted by Commissioner in case of malfunctioning of contractors
who left the work of roads incomplete causing frequent accidents. Report was to
be tabled within time span of eight days
. However there was no
report tabled in the next meeting. In another inquiry into alleged misbehaviour
by an officer from electricity department of Nagpur Municipal Corporation with
contractors, it was found that the contractors refused to do the electric work
as they alleged harassment meted to them by the officer, resulting in repeated
advertising for the work (about 10 times) causing revenue loss to the Nagpur
Municipal Corporation. Report was to be tabled by the Commissioner in a month’s
time frame
.
Report not found tabled in the next two meetings
. Inquiry was conducted by
Maharashtra State Government against Nagpur Municipal Corporation General Body
and the Standing Committee for not conducting meetings for 5 successive months
. No discussion on this
issue was reported in the minutes of subsequent meetings.
In Nashik
Municipal Corporation the Councillors demanded probe in the matter of the
plots, which were allotted for resettlement and were allegedly given to the
builders
.
Commissioner sought probe by Principal
Secretary – Urban Development Department of Maharashtra State Government.
However no report was found tabled or discussed in the subsequent meetings.
There were two internal Committees appointed for probing this issue but their reports
too were not tabled in the house.
4.4 Wastages and Non-utilisation of Budget
Non-utilisation of budgetary
provision leading to a lapse of fund is a waste of public money. The Opposition
Leader has mentioned non-utilisation of 30% to 40% of budgetary fund in MCGM in the budgetary
speech. According to the information available to him only 20% to 25% of
work was done in A,B and E Budget till Jaunary 2006 and the rest of the work
could not be completed in 3 months, thus leading to lapse of funds at the end
of the financial year.
Poor maintenance
of Municipal properties has also been found as a reason for escalated costs, as
seen in the Rs. 1,62,75,000/- spent on repairs to the Mayors bungalow.
It is also found
that funds of Corporations in Nagpur
and Nashik were wasted on repeated advertisements to invite tenders.
In Nagpur, Rs.1
crore and public space was wasted in constructing a market, which has finally
closed down, because of its non-accesibility to the public, while Rs. 8 crore
allocated for slum improvement was forced to lapse due to non-utilisation. This
raises serious questions, not only about efficiency, but also priorities.
4.5 Unfinished Business and
Delays in Decision Making
Municipal
Corporation of Greater Mumbai follows a practice of recording unfinished
business, which is presented by the Municipal Secretary in the house.
Unfinished business include the list of unanswered questions by Municipal
Commissioners, Reports not tabled in the house by the Municipal Commissioner,
Letters not disposed by the Standing Committee and Auditors, MCGM’s list of
incomplete work by various committees, Interpellations not answered in
prescribed period or during the tenure of the Councillor, thus leading to its
expiry. While such recording of the details of unfinished business is not
evident in Nagpur
and Nashik Municipal Corporations, delays in implementation of work due to
inefficiency of the administration is more evident in these two Corporations.
Reasons include shortage of staff, frequent re-tendering, etc. Delays have also
culminated in price escalation of projects or lapse of funds.
Administrative
lapse in filling up vacant positions is prevalent in all three Municipal
Corporations. Total Vacancies in Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai up to
31st March.2005 were - 15,135 posts to be filled by direct
recruitment and 6532 posts were to be filled by promotion where as total vacancies
in Nagpur Municipal Corporation as on 20th October 2007 were – 2736. These
vacancies in Nagpur
existed for the past 4-5 years. Total vacancies in Nashik Municipal Corporation
were – 1856.
Lack of personnel directly affect quality and quantity of services provided by
these urban local bodies.
4.6
Privatisation of Basic Services and Outsourcing of Work
Privatisation of
basic services and outsourcing of services that necessarily have to be provided
by the Urban Local Body, has been taken as a criterion indicating
accountability of the local government to its citizens, from the perspective of
social and economic justice within cities. This direction towards outsourcing
of public services, has emerged more in the General Body discussions of Mumbai
and Nashik Corporations in the year of analysis. In Municipal Corporation of
Greater Mumbai there is a clear trend of inviting private institutions to
maintain open spaces, and public recreational facilities, as well as letting
out maternity homes on a caretaker basis. Privatization of this sort, and
consequent introduction of user charges, will only reduce access to these
spaces and services for the urban poor.
Privatisation of water services has appeared twice on the agenda of
Nashik Municipal Corporation in 2005-06, which has been strongly opposed by the
Councillors. The administration cited several reasons for such a move – tracing
it to establishment costs, machinery, water reservoir repair etc, chemicals and
store material purchase, MSEB electricity bill and Irrigation department bill.
Increase in water tax was also proposed but strongly opposed in the Standing
Committee of Nashik Municipal Corporation.
However, in 2007 there has been increase in tariff on water by the
Nashik Municipal Corporation. Metre system has been initiated in 70% area of
Nashik. which have been installed on individual pipelines. The citizens are
charged as per the reading appearing on the metre.
Attempts to privatise water supply are also being made in Mumbai,
through, amongst other things, provision of pre-paid water meters to post-1995
informal settlements.
Conclusions
and Suggestions :
Findings of the
study raise a number of accountability concerns. Concerns with regards to
conduct of business in the Municipal Corporation include acrimonious behaviour,
holding
meetings only to pay homage to a deceased dignitary or congratulate the
accomplishment of a dignatory and conduct no other
business
and adjournment of meetings due to absence of
responsible persons from the administration such as the Commissioner or an
empowered deputy. These problems have largely emerged in the discussion minutes
of Nashik and Nagpur Municipal Corporations. On the other hand, systematic
procedures of conducting business have been found to be followed in Mumbai
Corporation, including the use of legislative tools to register protests. The primary
reason, as we see it, is the minimalistic rules and procedures for conduct of
business in the House in the two newer Municipal Acts, viz., CNC Act, 1948 and
BPMC Act, 1949, ruling Nagpur
and Nashik Municipal Corporations respectively.
The prevalence
of three different Municipal Acts in the same state has also allowed the Nagpur
Municipal Corporation to implement a Commissioners Budget in 2005-06, without
the necessary democratic sanctioning of the Corporation House. Also Nagpur Municipal
Corporation does not have the post of a Municipal Chief Auditor and only
conducts internal audits of its finances, that too only once in 3-4 years. One step towards dealing with these
discrepancies is for the Urban Development Department to synchronise the
different Municipal Acts on certain basic aspects of functioning such as
conduct of business in the House and nature of Statutory Authorities and
Deliberative Committees.
The other
serious concern is the delays in tabling of reports, including statutory
reports such as Financial Audit Statements. Apart from this, the reports the
General Body seeks from the administration on feasibility of proposals,
inquiries into cases of malpractices and malfunction, etc. are rarely found to
be tabled, leading to delays in decisions, or, decisions taken with inadequate
information. Here again, one reason we have been able to identify is the administrative lapse in filling up vacant
positions in all three Municipal Corporations. Shortage of personnel in the
corporations, not only affects the timely production of documents and reports
for speedy decision making, but directly affects the quantity and quality of
services provided by the urban local bodies.
Adherence to a comprehensive code of conducting
business common to all Municipal Corporations will also help set in place
systems of tracking unfinished business on a regular basis. In Mumbai Municipal Corporation, we have noticed the Municipal
Secretary reports (although intermittently) the list of unfinished business,
which have included, the list of unanswered questions by Municipal
Commissioners, reports not tabled in the house by the Municipal Commissioner,
letters not disposed by the Standing Committee and Auditors, MCGM’s list of
incomplete work by various committees and Interpellations not answered in
prescribed period or during the tenure of the Councillor thus leading to its
expiry. Such recording of the details of unfinished business was not evident in
Nagpur and
Nashik Municipal Corporations.
Finally, it is always disturbing
to see alleged malpractices, corruption and frauds rife in the institutions
that govern our cities. Decentralisation of powers and functions is a crucial
step towards checking this menace. Accessibility to information is also a
crucial means of seeking accountability. The Right to Information Act is a
very effective tool in the hands of citizens to access specific information.
Apart from this, Municipal Corporations should also publically disclose
information on a regular basis through standardised Management Information
Systems (MIS) reports. The regular
disclosure of reports stipulated under the newly enacted Public Disclosure Act,
2007, must be implemented with immediate effect across Municipalities.
Urban governance
will be truly effective, when it is able to addresses the rights and needs of
the most marginalised. According to the State Planning Commission of
Maharashtra, 27% of the urban population in
Maharashtra
is poor (largest among all states) and the percentage of urban population to
total population has almost doubled between 1977 and 2000 (from 24% to 45%).
Being able to catch up
better with the pace of urbanisation and addressing the issues that emerge in
an inclusive manner is necessary to reduce disparities and make cities just for
all. The Constitutional Seventy-Fourth Amendment, is an excellent framework for
inclusive and accountable governance in
India but there is a need for
strong political will for its implementation.
Annexures
Table 1:
Salient Features of the Constitution (74th Amendment) Act, 1992 and
its Implementation in the Municipal Corporations of Mumbai, Nagpur and Nashik
|
Sr No
|
Features of 74thCAA, 1992
|
Mumbai Municipal Corporation
|
Nagpur Municipal Corporation
|
Nashik Municipal Corporation
|
|
|
243-Q Constitution
of Municipal Corporation in larger urban area.
|
Urban area with an approximate population of
1.2 crores
|
Urban area with an approximate population of 21
lakhs
|
Urban area with an approximate population of 15
lakhs
|
|
2.
|
243-R Composition of
Municipalities.
|
|
|
|
|
3.
|
243-S Constitution and Compostion
of ‘Wards Committees.
|
|
|
|
|
|
243- T Reservation of
seats.
|
|
|
|
|
5.
|
243-U Duration of
Municipalities
|
|
Duration for five years. Elections are held
periodically every five years – 2002 and 2007.
|
Duration for five years. Elections are held
periodically every five years- 2002 and 2007.
|
|
6.
|
243-W Powers,
authority and responsibilities of Municipalities
|
|
Obligatory and discretionary duties inclusive, of
the details of Twelfth Schedule are specified in Section 57 and 58 of City of Nagpur Corporation Act, 1948.
|
Obligatory and discretionary duties, inclusive of
the details of Twelfth Schedule are specified in Section 63 and 66 of Bombay
Provincial Corporation Act, 1949.
|
|
7.
|
243.Z. Audit or
accounts of Municipalities
|
|
No Yearly Audit
conducted. Internal audit is done after every 3 to 4 years. Internal audit is
done by private auditors and government auditors.
|
No Yearly Audit is conducted in Nashik
Municipal Corporation.
|
Table 2 : Items appearing in General Body for discussions
and approval in Municipal Corporations of Mumbai, Nagpur and Nashik in 2005-06 in comparison
with Twelfth Schedule of the 74th CAA, 1992
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Urban planning including town planning.
|
41
|
4
|
10
|
|
|
Regulation of land-use and construction
of buildings.
|
41 +
9
= 50
|
3
+
1 = 4
|
10 +
0 = 10
|
|
|
Planning for economic and social
development.
|
Budget Discussion*
|
Budget Discussion*
|
Budget Discussion*
|
|
|
Roads and bridges.
|
21* + 4 = 25
|
3
|
27 + 2 = 29
|
|
|
Water supply for domestic, industrial and
commercial purposes
|
36 *
|
3
|
8
|
|
|
Public health, sanitation, conservancy
and solid waste management
|
60 (public health) + 34 (sanitation)
+ 3 (conservancy) + 1 (SWM)
= 98
|
1 +
3 +
0
+ 0
= 4
|
12 + 15 +
3
+ 0 = 30
|
|
|
Fire services
|
5
|
1
|
1
|
|
|
Urban forestry, protection of the
environment and promotion of
Ecological aspects
|
5
|
0
|
1
|
|
|
Safeguarding the interests of weaker
sections of society, including the
handicapped and mentally retarded
|
7
|
1
|
1
|
|
|
Slum improvement and up gradation.
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
|
|
Urban poverty alleviation.
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
|
|
Provision of urban amenities and
facilities such as parks, gardens, playgrounds.
|
1
|
0
|
11
|
|
|
Promotion of cultural, educational and
aesthetic aspects.
|
7 (cultural) + 7 (educational) = 14
|
1 (cultural) + 1 (educational) = 2
|
13 (cultural) + 11 (educational) = 24
|
|
|
Burials and burial grounds; cremations,
cremation grounds
and electric crematoriums.
|
6
|
0
|
3
|
|
|
Cattle ponds; prevention of cruelty to
animal.
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
|
|
Vital statistics including registration
of births and deaths
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
|
|
Public amenities including street
lighting, parking lots, bus stops and public conveniences.
|
9
|
2
|
5
|
|
|
Regulation of slaughter houses and
tanneries.
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
|
Note: (3*) Budget discussions are the routine
discussions which may be categorised as Planning for social and economic
development (4*) Roads-related agendas enumerated here pertain to road
improvement and do not include proposals for naming of roads, street or
chowks for MCGM. (5*) Majority water supply related agenda pertained to
monthly and weekly reports on water supply levels in Mumbai lakes submitted
by the Commissioner for MCGM.
|
-
Paper written by Ms. Chandana Shetye, Senior
Researcher
-
Urban Governance and Consultant – Maharashtra
associated with YUVA, Mumbai.
This paper is submitted to Centre for Good Governance, Hyderabad in May 2011.
[This paper is based on the report ‘Examining Urban
Governance in Maharashtra – Case Studies of Mumbai, Nagpur
and Nashik Municipal Corporations’, A Maharashtra Social Watch Report 2010 - research by
Chandana Shetye.]
(7980 Words)
This
paper is substantially drawn from a report prepared by YUVA for Maharashtra
Social Watch. Key Researcher for this report is Ms. Chandana Shetye, Senior
Researcher on issues of urban governance.
Municipal
Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) is governed by Mumbai Municipal
Corporation Act (MMC Act), 1888; Nagpur Municipal Corporation by City of Nagpur Corporation Act
(CNC Act), 1948 and Nagpur Improvement Trust Act (NIT Act), 1936 and Nashik
Municipal Corporation by Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act (BPMC
Act), 1949.
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is Government of India's
flagship programme for achievement of Universalization of Elementary Education
(UEE) in a time bound manner, as mandated by 86th Amendment to the
Constitution of India making free and compulsory education to children of 6-14
years age group, a fundamental right. (http://ssa.nic.in/)
