Cabinet okays Mayor-in-Council

The municipal commissioner, despite the severe slashing of powers, retains the civic establishment under him, and will serve as the secretary to the Mayor, responsible for the implementation of decisions taken by him. The commissioner also has the power to refer to the state government, any decision taken against the civic guidelines and rules by the Mayor.

Similarly, the committees existing today, like the standing committee that rules on the finances of the corporation, the education committee, the improvements committee, etc will be abolished.

The tenure of the Mayor will be for a period of two years, and the present ritual of reserving seats for the Mayor will be transferred to that of the chairperson or speaker of the corporation. The post of the speaker will be for a period of one year. A special post of the deputy speaker will be created to execute the transactions in the absence of the speaker and will be appointed by the Mayor. The number of council members will be five per cent of those of the total number of councillors, Joshi added. For the city of Mumbai, which has 221 councillors, it works out to be eleven.

The leader of the opposition will have an equal status and will enjoy the facilities of the council members. A municipal corporation public accounts committee will be formed on the lines of the public finance committee to check the financial matters of the municipal corporation. The leader of the opposition will be the president of the committee, Joshi added.

While the ruling party in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, which is the Shiv Sena, welcomed the decision, the opposition feared that they will have very little say now. The commissioner Girish Gokhale had threatened sometime ago that he would quit his post if the Mayor-in-Council was introduced. He could not be traced today for his reactions. Mayor Vishakha Raut said that she was happy following the decision and said, “Now there will be a balance between the administration and the corporators. At the same time, the mayor would have to shoulder more responsibilities.” She said that the council would ensure that a check is maintained on the bureaucrats and they will not be empowered to take decisions arbitrarily. Red-tapism would be controlled, she felt, and assured that if she remains the mayor, she would lay stress on beautification of the city and try to solve the water problems. Beautification of highways is also on the agenda.

R R Singh of the Congress said that the system would throttle the opposition’s neck. “The members of the council would function arbitrarily and the opposition will have no powers to keep a check."

However, Sena leader Nandu Satam said that opposition will now have a more powerful role. “They are the ones who will have to keep those ruling in check.”

Additional municipal commissioner Shreedhar Joshi admitted that the powers of the bureaucrats would definitely be curtailed but reserved further comment.