A right democratic mess

Milind DEORA was on TV at the height of the crisis. He said he could not answer for the failures in Mumbai because he represents Mumbai in t...

Milind DEORA was on TV at the height of the crisis. He said he could not answer for the failures in Mumbai because he represents Mumbai in the Lok Sabha! No wonder, his approach to the issue sounds so faulty 8216;City as Hero No I8217;, IE, August 2.

The main cause of Mumbai8217;s deluge is the indiscriminate reclaiming of land blocking natural drainage, in spite of repeated opposition from bureaucrats and the scientific community. The 8220;democratically elected leaders8221; sanctioned the reclamations. Yet, Deora moans, 8220;It makes little sense that Asia8217;s largest civic body 8212; the BMC 8212; is run by a bureaucrat in the world8217;s largest democracy!8221;

Deora is pitching for the mayor-in-council, where powers of approval and implementation are with 8220;democratically elected leaders8221;. The mayor is a virtual 8220;chief minister8221; with members of various committees as his 8220;ministers8221;. Public memory is short but it cannot be already forgotten that the Sena-BJP government did pass a law to introduce the mayor-in-council. But there was unanimity 8220;cutting across party lines8221; in beating a hasty retreat in only six months because our 8220;democratically elected leaders8221; could not implement even basic works. They prefer the current system in which they have the authority without any responsibility.

Look at the present legal position. All financial powers vest with the 8220;democratically elected leaders8221; in terms of Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, 1949 BPMC Act. 8220;Democratically elected leaders8221; approve the budgets. Section 73 of the BPMC Act gives these powers to the standing committee or the general body of the corporation manned entirely by 8220;democratically elected leaders8221;. Schedule D, Chapter V Rule 22 of the BPMC Act provides for bypassing of the normal rule of inviting tenders but 8220;for reasons which shall be recorded in the proceedings of the standing committee8221;. The bureaucrat must implement what the 8220;democratically elected leaders8221; approve, even if it is illegal! In municipalities like Nagpur and Kolhapur, the political mafia has even beat up the commissioners.

Our experience in the Pune Municipal Corporation BPMC Act applies here is that the 8220;democratically elected leaders8221; flout rules against the advice of bureaucrats. It is routine to de-reserve plots or reclaim massive stretches of land for construction against scientific advice, allot land or buildings to relatives of 8220;democratically elected leaders8221; on low lease rents in perpetuity, approve illegal 8220;pleasure8221; trips, etc.

The RTI is a tool to enable citizens to participate in decision-making as Deora says, but it is more an instrument to bring transparency, and to make rulers accountable. Will the government now bring to book all the 8220;democratically elected leaders8221; who8217;ve reduced Mumbai to this misery?