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Journalism of Courage
MUMBAI, March 3: With the chief minister8217;s decision to review the new Mayor-in-Council MiC system of governance in the civic corporation weighing heavily on the minds of the MiC members, the latter are now trying to shift the ballast to the administration for alleged lapses in their functioning.
Blaming the bureaucracy for delays in the decision-making process, the all-powerful clique of 12 MiC members, who stand to lose the most if the system is scrapped, feel they are being scapegoated.
One ofthe more public spats between the two camps has been over the construction of plush cabins for the chairpersons of the 12 MiC committees.
Even though the MiC passed the proposal in October last year, the administration felt that spending Rs 4 crore on the cabins was being much to extravagant. Shouldering a deficit of Rs 296 crore at the time, the administration cut the cost by Rs 30 lakh before passing it.
Most MiC members, though, blame Municipal Commissioner Girish Gokhale for their desperate plight, accusing the state government of acting on the opinion of an administrator who was downsized to make way for the MiC system. Gokhale was vehemently opposed to the new system and had even threatened to resign though he later backtracked.
Directing his ire at the administration, Health Committee Chairperson, Sardar Tara Singh, asks: 8220;How can people expect us to act fast when files are routed via the commissioner8217;s office.8221; He was referring to proposals concerning the installation of MRI machines byprivate parties in civic hospitals, increasing the cost of X-Rays and the increase in registration fees for births and deaths. 8220;These have been lying on his Gokhale8217;s table for the last six months and even reminders have not helped,8221; Singh complains. 8220;If the MiC members have been vested with powers, why should files be routed through department heads, assistant and deputy commissioners and then the chairpersons? They should either be finalised by the relevant department heads or the chairpersons,8221; he remarks.
But a section in the corporation blames the lack of transparency in the new system for the MiC impending dissolution. Congress corporator and member of the Water Supply and Sewerage Committee, Ravindra Pawar, said today the system should be given more time but a change in the mayor would help.
Accusing Mayor Nandu Satam Shiv Sena of taking arbitrary decisions, Pawar said decision-making should be more transparent.
Samajwadi Party corporator, Yusuf Abrahani, says the 11-member MiC8217;s powerto overrule decisions taken by individual committees also contributed to delays. He cites the deadlock over the awarding of road repair contracts in December 1998 as an example.
Municipal Mazdoor Union leader Sharad Rao however gives the earlier system of governance the thumb8217;s-up sign, saying the MiC8217;s lack of transparency is undemocratic. He feels decisions taken by the mayor regarding development of the city must not be kept secret from the citizens.
In the earlier system, chartered accountant monitored expenditure on various projects whereas control now rests solely with the MiC. This has resulted in excess expenditure, with the MiC members benefiting at the cost of the public, he adds. Rao says capital expenditure on development works has been halved since the MiC was introduced, he points out.
The motive behind the MiC8217;s review is not its alleged malfunctioning but because the Shiv Sena-led alliance government is not sure of victory in next year8217;s Assembly elections, he retorts.
