Ex-corporators write to Maharashtra CM alleging lack of transparency in BMC

Several former corporators of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation have written a letter, which they termed as an "SOS call", to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, alleging lack of transparency, financial mismanagement, policy paralysis and arbitrary transfers under the rule of state-appointed administrator and civic chief Iqbal Singh Chahal.

The letter signed by 94 former corporators cutting across the party lines, including former mayor Kishori Pednekar of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), claimed that the morale of officers was at an "all-time low" and the entire governance had come to a standstill as the operations were being run as per the "whims and fancies" of the administrator.

 

In the letter written on December 12, they urged Shinde to "intervene immediately" and direct the administrator to publish a white paper on the state of affairs of the BMC, saying that they were unable to see the "deep rot" and "decline" of the BMC.

The term of these corporators ended in March 2022 after which the state government appointed municipal commissioner Chahal as the administrator of the civic body.

"We are writing to point out about the deep rot and decline of BMC due to lack of transparency and accountability, ad hoc and arbitrary transfers, financial mismanagement and fiscal indiscipline leading to the collapse of the civic administration and governance of Mumbai and damage to the morale of officers," the letter reads.

The letter also sought Shinde to direct the BMC to publish its DLS (draft letters) and policy decisions on its website immediately and continue to do so till a fresh general body is elected, apart from replying to their letters and queries.

"The administrator has neither addressed the media nor set up any forum for former elected representatives to raise issues and resolve problems of citizens," the letter said.

Urging the chief minister to treat the letter as an "SOS call", they said that the government led by him will be seen as being responsible for the "mess" that the BMC has become.

"It is indeed sad and unfortunate to see Mumbai's governance being taken to a historic low as the morale of officers is at an all-time low and the entire governance has come to a standstill," the former corporators said.

The letter blamed that the bureaucracy in the BMC has succumbed to the pressure of adverse lobbies and cartels, who are driving these transfers, contracts, policies and financial decisions.

"The BMC is being run by the whims and fancies of the administrator with ever-changing priorities that are driven by vested interests," the letter pointed out.

On the "arbitrary transfers" in the BMC, the letter said there are officers, who have been shunted out six to seven times in just three months and there were instances where the transfer orders were reversed or changed in less than 24 hours.

"The average time an officer now spends on one post is now around a week, the shortest being less than 24 hours. At no time in the administrative history of the BMC, have we seen such random transfers," the letter alleged.

Such transfers are an indication that either they are happening without application of mind, in violation of the existing transfer policies or due to "undue pressure" on the municipal commissioner, it added.

"Another indication is that there is a large cash-for-transfer scam that is taking place in the BMC where top postings are being auctioned to the highest bidder on a rotational basis, where with every higher bid, a new order is issued every fortnight," the former elected representatives alleged.

They said the BMC budget has now become an item of disregard and only a paper exercise.

"Subjects that weren't even part of the budget speech are now getting over Rs 6,000 crore in allocation, like the new tenders for constructing cement concrete roads," the letter said, adding that the departments like garden were completely neglected.

The letter also claimed that "total policy paralysis" was prevailing in the civic body at present.

"Important policies like those related to open spaces have not been cleared since 2017 and it seems the administrator has no interest in these policies that matter to citizens and the city," it said, adding that the financial decline of the BMC began due to the sheer financial mismanagement and lack of fiscal discipline over the last year.

Former Congress corporator and leader of opposition in the BMC Ravi Raja, former Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) corporator and group leader Rakhi Jadhav, and former Samajwadi Party (SP) corporator and group leader Rais Shaikh are among the corporators who have signed the letter.