MP Manish Tewari moves Bill seeking directly elected Mayor with 5-year tenure for Chandigarh

A Mayor in Chandigarh is elected from amongst the elected councillors for a one-year term. Every year in January, the Mayor elections take place in ‘City Beautiful’.

All these years it is the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act 1976 that is extended to Chandigarh and governs all the civic body in Chandigarh. However certain laws of the Punjab MC act have also been diluted that are extended in Chandigarh.

In Panchkula, the Mayor is elected directly from amongst the public and for a period of five years.

In Chandigarh, all executive powers rest with the Commissioner of the civic body, while the Mayor has none. The Mayor has just one power, which is to convene a House meeting or any meeting or just decide on which all agendas to bring in the General House meeting. All the previous Mayors have been complaining that despite them and the councillors being the only elected representative in the Union Territory (UT), they have no powers to get residents’ works done. A councillor or a Mayor has to request the administration officials and ensure a good bond to see that work is done.

In case if there is a Mayor in council as well with a five year term , the Mayor and committee chairpersons will have powers at par with that of the Minister of State. The Mayor and chairpersons will have a say in every policy matter — a decision which at present is with the bureaucrats.

What the Bill states

The Mayor, the Senior Deputy Mayor and the Deputy Mayor would be removed only by motion supported by a two-third majority of the elected Councillors present and voting.

The Mayor, the Senior Deputy Mayor and the Deputy Mayor shall function as Mayor in Council.

All decisions of the Council shall be taken by consensus. If a consensus is not achieved, the decision will be made by a 2:1 majority and the decision shall be put into an agenda item for the consideration of the full house of the Municipal Corporation which shall be decided only by the elected members of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh through a simple majority of those present and voting.

The provisions of the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution of India, regarding anti-defection law, as applicable to the Members of the Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies, shall apply to the elected representatives of the Municipal Corporation.

What happens now

Currently, bureaucrats posted in Chandigarh have all the powers, be it overseeing the tender allotment or writing ACRs of employees. Even transfers and postings of the employees are decided by the bureaucrats. If the Bill becomes an Act, it will make the employees accountable to the Mayor else they 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.

Cease to be in office

The Mayor, the Senior Deputy Mayor and the Deputy Mayor shall cease to be in office if they defect from the political party from which they have been so elected or resign from the political party which they were originally elected to that position.

All officers of the Chandigarh administration, except those exercising purely police or law and order functions, shall be under the jurisdiction of the Mayor-in-Council.

The annual confidential reports (ACR) of all the officers of the Chandigarh administration, except those exercising law and order functions, shall be written by the Mayor, the Senior Deputy Mayor and the Deputy Mayor, respectively.

The Mayor, the Senior Deputy Mayor and the Deputy Mayor, as the case may be, will provide their comments on every officer from the rank of Sub-Divisional Magistrate or its equivalent, with the Mayor in Council which will be the reviewing and accepting authority for the ACR.