Chandigarh wants its own municipal act, find out how it will shift power from officers to the mayor

Demanding an “amendment in the Municipal Corporation Act and more powers to the Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Councillors being public representatives”, the agenda said, “The Municipal Corporation Act of Chandigarh was enacted as an extension to the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act and that too with dilution of many sections, powers and functions, rendering the MC Chandigarh in general and the Public Representatives in particular as mere statue figures with not much power or say in the functioning of the city and policy matters.”

“The Municipal Corporation is the only elected body in Chandigarh after the Member of the Parliament and all the policy and other important matters pertaining to the city are decided by bureaucracy, which goes against the basic tenets of democracy and the Constitution of India,” it added.

It further said, “Therefore, it is proposed that the Municipal Corporation Act be suitably amended to give more powers to the elected body of the people of Chandigarh and provision like Mayor in Council etc should also be incorporated into it. Even the name of the Act should be Chandigarh Municipal Corporation Act and not an extension Act.”

Besides, the House also passed another resolution for Hindi and Punjabi to be made the state language of Chandigarh instead of English.

What will happen with change in Municipal Corporation Act?

Public representatives of Chandigarh claim that they don’t have any powers with officers neither listening to them nor feeling accountable towards them. In a bid to tackle this, the General House of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation passed a resolution on Tuesday to have a mayor in council and Chandigarh’s own Municipal Corporation Act.

What is the present power scenario?

At present, all executive powers rest with the Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh while mayor has none. The mayor can only to convene a House or any other meeting, or just decide on agendas to bring in the General House.

All the previous mayors have been complaining that elected representative have no powers when it comes to getting people’s works done. A councillor or a mayor has to request the officials and ensure a good bond to see that work is done.

What will change after having a mayor in council?

With the presence of the mayor in council, the mayor and committee chairpersons will have powers at par with that of ministers of a state. Advocate and councillor Mahesh Inder Singh Sidhu stated that with this, a mayor will have all executive powers which are missing at the moment. “The mayor and chairpersons will have a say in every policy matter – a decision which is at present with bureaucrats. Right now bureaucrats have all the powers, be it overseeing the tender allotment or writing ACRs of employees or even having a say in the transfers and postings of the employees. This will make the employees accountable to the mayor. Otherwise, they (MC employees) don’t pay heed and listen only to the officers who come just for three years while a public representative is duly elected by the public,” Sidhu said.

Will it impact the tenure of the mayor as well?

A mayor in Chandigarh is elected from amongst the elected councillors for a one-year term. The mayor is not directly elected from the public. With mayor in council, provisions can be made where he/ she will serve for five years. At present, every year in January, the election for mayor takes place.

What is the Punjab Municipal Corporation act extended to Chandigarh?

All these years, it is the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act 1976 that is extended to Chandigarh and governs the civic body in Chandigarh. However certain laws of the Act have also been diluted that are extended in Chandigarh. “In Punjab, the building plans, zonal plans, are passed by the MC, while here in Chandigarh, this is done by the chief architect’s department. In Punjab, a mayor’s term is five years while in Chandigarh it is one year. Certain provisions of Punjab MC act have also been diluted,” Sidhu said.

What next now?

Now with the Chandigarh civic body passing the resolution to have its own Chandigarh MC Act and a mayor in council, the resolution will be going to the secretary urban local bodies, who is the home secretary in Chandigarh. The home secretary will then pass it on to the Government of India as any amendments will be enacted or passed only by the Parliament.