BMC’s Schedule W properties: Clubs set to see surge in memberships
GR empowers CM to nominate 50 free lifetime members, plus three more members each year
3 min read
According to senior BMC officials, while the city has nearly 160 properties which fall under the Schedule W of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act 1884, only two properties — Mahalaxmi Racecourse and Willingdon Sports Club — are categorised as clubs and gymkhanas, to which the new GR pertains. (Representational Image)Clubs in the city categorised under the BMC’s Schedule W properties — which includes the prestigious Mahalaxmi Racecourse and the Willingdon Sports Club — are set to see a surge in memberships as a new government resolution (GR) has now empowered the chief minister to nominate 50 free lifetime members, alongside three more members each year, going forward.
Furthermore, as per a GR, the municipal commissioner of the BMC will be an ex officio member on the managing committees of the two Schedule W gymkhanas while 5 percent of its total members will be drawn from the service members of the Class I officers of central and state government.
According to senior BMC officials, while the city has nearly 160 properties which fall under the Schedule W of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act 1884, only two properties — Mahalaxmi Racecourse and Willingdon Sports Club — are categorised as clubs and gymkhanas, to which the new GR pertains.
For the record, the Schedule W properties of the MMA are those which were once held by the Bombay Improvement Trust and later, transferred to the BMC.
The latest GR for the Schedule W properties comes along the heels of a similar GR issued by the state government renewing the lease of the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) and approving the development of a ‘Mumbai Central Park’ on 120 acres of the race course land, a day earlier.
At the RWITC, the municipal commissioner will be the lifetime member of the club and will be allowed to nominate one lifetime member annually.
The RWITC, which is the parent body that manages the Racecourse, has been making the news for the past couple of months after a majority of its members gave their nod to the civic authority’s proposal for going ahead and creating a theme park on the plot.
Alongside the membership perks, the government will also have the right to use the leased land for seven days of a calendar year.
Meanwhile, as per the new GR for the Schedule W properties, the gymkhanas will be allowed to host non-sport events within its boundaries, after procuring the prior permissions from the municipal commissioner and paying a license fee.
This fee amounts to Rs 1.5 lakh per day for Class A properties, which encompasses clubs that have an area hovering over 20,000 sqm. Furthermore, Class B clubs — which make up an area between 10,000 to 20,000 sqm — eyeing to hold an event will have to pay a fee of Rs 1 lakh while Class C clubs will pay a fee of Rs 50,000/day.
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