Mid-day roundtable: ‘Who will question the admin? That’s why we need corporators’

Participants at mid-day’s round table conference last Tuesday when duties of corporators and what people expect from them were also discussed. Pics/Ashish Raje

India's financial capital and its municipal corporation, with one of the largest budgets in the country, has been without public elected representatives for 17 long months now. Does anyone miss them, has the city been functioning as it should, or is something being missed out?

mid-day's round-table conference to discuss the repercussions had a bare-all debate on the subject among city's leading activists, ALMS and experts on one side, and former experienced corporators, including a former mayor, on the other. The outcome was a wide range of opinions and views ranging from what exactly the city is missing, what are the constitutional duties of corporators, need for orientation and work process for new corporators, and also how they work along with activists and ALMs hand-in-hand without having a "us and them divide."

The panellists comprised citizen activists, including noted architect and urban planner Rahul Kadri of the Nepean Sea Road Citizens' Forum (NRCF); Keith Anthony Carvalho, Sahakar Nagar ALM; Dhaval Shah of the Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens' Association; Mumtaz Sheikh of the Right to Pee for women movement; Amrita De, working for the tribal community with NGO Anubhuti; Trivankumar Karnani Mumbai North Central District Forum (MNCDF); former Mumbai mayor and ex-corporator from Mahim Milind Vaidya; Vinod Mishra ex-corporator from Malad (BJP); Asif Zakaria, ex-corporator from Bandra (Congress) and Dr Avkash Jadhav, ex-nominated corporator and head of department of History in St. Xavier's College.
Excerpts from the discussion:

Rahul Kadri: We have not missed corporators at all because, as a forum, we have been dealing directly with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) administration even before this. A corporator can be very helpful, but I believe we can do the same amount of work regardless of their presence. Corporators need to be more effective, but the system is designed in a way that they do not have any real powers to suggest a project. They can only vote for or against a project; they can't propose anything officially. Besides, the budget they have is very meagre for the upliftment of the ward.

Rahul Kadri seen with (right)Trivankumar Karnani

Dhaval Shah: There is no attention being paid to the city and the suburbs. Small single-lane roads have been concretized because an MP stays there, and wider important roads remain neglected. However, social media has become a game-changer to reduce this disparity. Many citizen-welfare groups have come to life on social media in the past few years because complaints were inadequately addressed by their councillors. I agree with Kadri, that there needs to be a cap on the beautification budget. Making railings and water fountains is taking money away from more important issues that need to be addressed.

Asif Zakaria: I disagree. Corporators act as a link between residents and the municipal administration. Corporators also deliberate on important policy decisions while taking up civic complaints. It is not just raising a hand for a yes or no; there is much more to that. How corporators function can vary from individual to individual. I represent Bandra. My way of functioning has been with participation of residents of this very vibrant neighbourhood. The results are better when the administration, citizens, and corporators work together.

Keith Carvalho: Corporators have a role and responsibility to play. But I doubt if they are fulfilling them. Are some of them even educated enough to understand their roles? Most often, they have their own agenda and take credit for the work that they have not done. Residents in our area managed to get the unpaved roads concretized as the local corporator had failed to do so. Once it was done, the corporator arrived with his party workers and coconuts and claimed credit. Corporators use most of their funds for slums. I feel that when there is no corporator, we developed a more personal and constructive approach with BMC administration and could get long-pending work done.

Dr Avkash Jadhav makes a point, also seen is mid-day's Prajakta Kasale; (right) Dhaval Shah feels there is no attention being paid to the city and the suburbs. Pic/Rane Ashish

Milind Vaidya: Every person has a different capacity and there are limitations. In many areas, corporators are elected 3-4 times. Citizens vote for them as they see their work done. It is equally important how much aware the corporator is of local issues. Believe me, it is not possible to solve all issues of wards in five years. If he/she is not elected after five years, all the work is stopped. I agree that corporators do have the necessary rights, but it is his/her skill on how they will coordinate and get the work done from the administration. Why did the chief minister feel the need to start a helpline for solid waste clearance? Simply because work is not being done and the CM has to intervene in this basic civic duty. Officers and engineers never go to small lanes in the slum. Development work can't be completed immediately as there are a lot of technical aspects which need to be sorted. I followed up for seven to eight years for the Mahim causeway. This year there was no waterlogging at Dadar TT because work had been done by the earlier government. Towers have workers and resources; slums do not have anyone to approach. Take the case of Mahim dargah. There was no toilet for women there and there are activists and NGOs working there. No none was able to solve it as the hawker lobby did not allow it. My persistence with the administration finally yielded results, though I had to face hawkers' wrath.

Mumtaz Shaikh: There are two Indias in Mumbai, one is rich, the other poor. The rich Mumbai is educated. They know how to use social media, and whom to contact. Even if their issue is not solved, they can approach senior officials. Take the case of Sahakar Nagar. It had smaller colonies and there was always waterlogging there. We used to complain every year without results. Now a government officers' quarters have come up there and the waterlogging issue is gone. Corporators are not just required for civic issues, but all kinds of problems, including domestic ones. He/she is a local messiah. Getting the Aadhaar card, government documents and for any other help, he/she is the first contact. I agree some corporators became power centres, which should be avoided. We have struggled, fighting for urinals and clean toilets for women. As per the BMC, community toilets in slums should be maintained by residents' organisations. Corporators then formed their karyakarta organisation to maintain toilets. When we protested and created public awareness, we started receiving threats. There is a need to make corporators answerable to citizens.

Amrita De, seen with Keith Carvalho, says tribals need a corporator as the first contact person to reach the administration

Amrita De: We work for Notified Tribes (NT) and De-notified Tribes (D-NT). This community lives outside slums, on footpaths or at open spaces. Daily survival is a matter of life and death for them. From their point of view, they need a corporator as the first contact person to reach the administration. We find waterlogging complaints by citizens, but in this case, the temporary shelters that these people build are washed away overnight, leaving them homeless. At such a time, it is not possible to reach the administration. It is the corporators on the ground who can help them. While dealing with administration with BMC or police, one needs to understand the technical and administrative language, which is not possible for them. They can communicate their problems in their language with the corporator or her/his team. Secondly, corporators can get them included in government schemes, issue identification letters and help resolve their domestic or social disputes. Corporators work as a pressure group on administration for these communities. During the pandemic, we had to do online registration. But how could these community members register themselves? What is the use of technology if it can't reach the last person in society?

Vinod Mishra: Corporators work as a bridge between citizens and the administration. I am not talking only about the civic administration but other government agencies too. People have elected us and it is our duty to solve their problems. I agree there are lapses. But all corporators are not the same. The corporator should be aware of his ward and its issues first and understand the working process of BMC. I must say corporators should have a vision for their wards, city. There are lots of issues in a ward including parking, roads, erratic water supply in public community toilets, pollution, etc. There should be pressure on the administration, which a corporator can bring. Someone talked about two Indias. That is true. There are two cities in the city. While a part is savvy with social media and raises its issues, the other Mumbai is at loss. They have daily problems like who will fix the doors of their community toilets. They don't have money as low as R30 for their daily dose of medicine and line up in my office. We are no longer corporators, but that queue in my office has not lessened. They expect solutions. Earlier, as a corporator, I used to solve issues on the phone, now I visit the BMC office. And I must say officials still solve all issues that we take up, with the same respect.

Milind Vaidya, Vinod Mishra, Mumtaz Shaikh and Asif Zakaria. Pic/Rane Ashish

Asif Zakaria: Yes, we get support from BMC officials. We are still the first point of contact for citizens in our area. Municipal work is always related to day-to-day life and each and every person needs something sometime. About resolving civic issues, yes we got responses from officials and they too take feedback from us. The party is important but it is the candidate and his personal rapport that plays a vital role in civic elections.

Rahul Kadri: Councillors are crucial when it comes to policy making. But why the paralysis? If they need to make a policy, they should make one. Why is there a delay? Take the case of the hawkers' policy. Where is it, why is it so delayed? We think about roads for 12 per cent of car owners. What about pedestrians? In Mumbai, 50 per cent of people go to the workplace by walking. Why we are not thinking about footpaths and an open place policy? We are spending R12,700 crore for 45,000 cars on the coastal road. But don't want to subsidise BEST. We need corporators for making policies with a vision. We tried to engage with our corporator, but somehow she is not able to get what we are saying.

Trivankumar Karnani: We are working with corporators. But there have been problems. If we complain, for example, about illegal hawkers, our names are leaked and we get threats. We get calls from political party workers questioning us about the complaints.

Vinod Mishra: This can happen in some cases. I will not deny it. But if you keep working together with the local corporator, I am sure 80 to 90 per cent issues will get resolved. A corporator must have a vision. He/she should know what his ward wants and how it can be implemented.

Trivankumar Karnani: Corporators are the most important medium between the administration and citizens. The arbitrary decision-making by the administration is very glaring. The administration feels they are not answerable to anyone. The administration decides that potholes on roads over 6 metres will be repaired by BMC HQ, not ward. Such decisions need to be questioned. Potholes at Bandra Station Road are not repaired for 30 days because it is a 6-m wide road. The administration is taking very illogical decisions. With the absence of standing committee, there is massive corruption. Earlier many contractors were appointed at the ward level. Now only two contractors are appointed for roads of more than 6 m for the entire city for road repairing. Projects worth hundreds of thousands of crores of rupees are being approved without any discussion. The escalator on Sion bridge was planned years ago, started functioning recently and was dysfunctional after two weeks. Who will question the administration? That's why we need corporators. BMC has appointed an agency to handle its social media. The primary objective was to redress grievances. But the PR department quietly removed that clause, making the handle a promotional tool. I can tell you why people feel they don't want corporators mainly because they are not working with integrity. Issues like hawkers' encroachment and their protection as vote bank politics irritates citizens. They work on minor issues like removing debris, and solid waste drains as great illustrations of their work, ignoring all major issues like encroachment and illegal hoardings. Me and my team have received threats from all parties. Another observation is that corporators' attitude towards residents of buildings is very different as corporators think they don't vote for them. We as MNCDF had run a Litter-Free Mumbai campaign with mid-day. At one place on Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road, we had complained about slum dwellers throwing garbage near a society. We had complained but there was no action as the local corporators took the side of the slum dwellers. A similar case was at Bandra where slum dwellers had encroached but were supported by local corporators. A recent case of a Ghatkopar building not getting water as the water line has been diverted to slums also has the support of local politicians.

Prof Avkash Jadhav: Under the Notice of Motion, a corporator can table a policy in the general body. Also, under the Point of Order, he can pose questions to the administration where it is answerable to a general body or a civic committee. About two Indias in Mumbai, I do not agree. I will instead ask why the percentage of voting is very low in civic elections. Who are those who do not vote in elections? I will say that people who are busy on social media are not voting. Why are they then raising questions on the existence of corporators? If a civic official stops responding to citizens, they are helpless, but they cannot do so to corporators. Civic officials are answerable to the general body and various committees of the BMC. I ask activists and ALMs, why don't you work with corporators instead of questioning their existence? But I guess you don't want to get down from your ivory tower. Ask your corporator to table policy under the Notice of Motion, or ask them to rise a question with the Point of Order. You should be working as a pressure group on corporators. I had initiated a few policies during my tenure, which eventually became new budget heads and policies. I will also say there is a need for orientation for corporators after they are elected. I once asked for permission to make a Power Point presentation at the BMC, but the administration did not allow me claiming there was no such provision in the BMC law. Then why did they give me a laptop? I once found an official of Sewri hospital waiting with files for funds for his hospital to get equipment. He had been fighting for two years as his proposal was not approved. I fought with the administration to make provisions for funds. The point is this is what a corporator can do. I suggest activists come two steps forward, we come four steps forward and lets work together.

Dhaval Shah: We have tried that. If we continue to raise questions or issues with the corporator, after some time, he stops attending our calls and says that we have political ambitions. The BMC is spending R52,000 crore on the city, but still we are talking about bad roads, water, and drainage. We are not progressing yet. We talked about two Indias. But I will say India doesn't get what it is paying for. But Bharat gets what it is not paying. Also, we don't have any objection to that. But why do we have to suffer about our daily basic amenities like roads, drain waterlogging? There should be a check and account system.

Prof Avkash Jadhav: I would say we started a wrong trend exercising the use of social media. There is a need for personal approach between citizen and corporators.

Milind Vaidya: Corporators are always branded as patronizing encroachments. But I will share my experience. I was elected for the first time in 1992. Then there was an encroachment on the Collector Land in my ward at Mahim. I followed up continuously. I also told Chief Minister Manohar Joshi. But there was no action against the illegal slum by government officials immediately. The new policy implemented said slums till 1995 were protected. Imagine how I faced the colony during the next election when I went to ask for votes. At least 400 votes are important in civic elections. I could not avoid them.