For the first time, the reins of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) went into the hands of an administrator on March 14 as the term of the general body came to an end on that day. While the state government has appointed municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar as the administrator for the civic body, here’s what it means for a civic body to be ruled by an administrator and the impact it may have on the lives of the ordinary citizens. 🗞️ Subscribe Now: Get Express Premium to access the best Election reporting and analysis 🗞️ Why an administrator? As per the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, 1949, the state election commission has to hold elections of the civic bodies before the end of the existing term of the general body. However, the ongoing pandemic hampered the preparations for the civic polls. There was a delay in holding the elections before March 14, which was the last day of the five-year term of the general body elected in 2017. The state election commission a few months ago began preparations to hold the civic body election but then the Supreme Court ruling came on withdrawing reservations for the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category as the due process was not followed, leading it to turn into a political issue. All political parties in the state Assembly unanimously decided to postpone the civic polls across the state unless reservation for the OBC category is restored. Hence, the state government decided to appoint an administrator for the PMC. Power of the state government to dissolve a civic corporation As per the Section 452(A) of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, 1949, “if at any time upon the representation made or otherwise it appears to the state Government that the Corporation is not competent to perform, or persistently makes default in the performance of, the duties imposed upon it by or under this Act or any other law for the time being in force or exceeds or abuses its powers, the state government may, after having given the Corporation an opportunity to show cause why such order should not be made, by an order published, with the reasons therefore, in the Official Gazette dissolve the Corporation with effect from the date to be specified in the order.” Last year, the state government inserted a sub-section saying if the state election commission has brought to the notice of the state government that it is not possible for it to conduct the general elections to the corporation within the period specified, then the state government may appoint a government officer for exercising all the powers and performing all the functions and duties of the corporation under this Act till the formation of a new general body. Powers of an administrator All powers and duties of the corporation, the standing committee, the transport committee and all other committees constituted under the Act, shall, during the period of dissolution be exercised and performed by the administrator or those on his behalf. On dissolution of the corporation, all the property vested in the corporation shall vest in the state government. Citizens’ woes in absence of elected corporators The local corporator of any electoral ward is a point of contact for citizens to raise the civic issues who then coordinate with the ward office or civic departments to get them addressed. The absence of corporators is now expected to make all citizens take up their issues with the ward offices and municipal commissioners themselves. It is going to put a load on the civic administration and there would be a pressure built up on the civic administration to perform their responsibilities to resolve the civic issues. Former BJP corporator Prassana Jagtap of Sinhagad Road area said, “The PMC should guide its civic staff on addressing the woes of the citizens. The mobile phone numbers of all the responsible staff members should be made public for the citizens to approach them and get their issues, such as shortage of water, leakages, drainage problems, solid waste management issues etc, addressed on a daily basis.” How is the administrator expected to function? The administrator would be the responsible authorised person to carry out the civic works. However, he may delegate his powers and duties to an individual or a committee or a subcommittee. The PMC administrator has thus, accordingly asked the head of the departments and assistant municipal commissioner, in charge of 15 ward offices, to gear up to address and resolve civic issues raised by the citizens. The administration exercising the powers and performing the duties of the corporation will have to perform the role of the standing committee and other committees to keep the operations unaffected. There is a likelihood of the appointment of an advisory committee to ensure that the civic duties are performed in the larger interest of the citizens. This advisory committee may have members recommended by the state government. Concerns raised over possible misuse of powers by the administrator Former corporators have raised concerns over the possible misuse of powers by the administrator citing there is no clarification in the law on the actual powers to the administrator. The administrator should only carry out the responsibility of maintenance work and administrative work of the PMC till the new general body is formed. Former corporators Ujjwal Keskar and Suhas Kulkarni of the BJP said, “The administrator should not take any policy decision or the one that would be against the interest of the citizens. It will be a mockery of democracy if the administrator takes policy decisions which otherwise are taken by the elected general body.” They also said that the municipal commissioner, who is appointed as the administrator, can work under the pressure of the state government and take policy decisions in the interest of those ruling the government. They further sought amendments in the MMC Act to specify the powers of the administrator to ensure there is no illegal proceedings done.
