Does Mumbai work for Mumbaikar?

Yes! It does if you are staying at Cuffe Parade or Malabar Hill or Pali Hill, but people who do not own a piece of property in these places Mumbai does not work. You have to live in Malabar Hill and work at Nariman Point or stay at Pali Hill and work at BKC.

However, if you stay in Mulund and work at Fort, or stay in Parel and work at Saki Naka, or stay in Goregaon and work at Nariman Point, then you are not privileged enough and as an ordinary Mumbaikar you have to: sit on the fourth seat, cling on to the foot-board of BEST buses, know the count of potholes on your way to your office or college, ‘pay’ for your passport verification, visit your doctor for gastro after you drink tap water, only play gully cricket in the passageway of your wing as playgrounds have no place for you, stay in a matchbox with a window into your neighbour’s house, or better share toiletries with the person behind you in the morning queue. 

Mumbai works for its privileged and not for the common man!

Can it work for all?

“Poverty is there everywhere. Africa has slums. Latin America has high murder rates. Even in my country, the USA, we have communities living in deprived conditions,” says our new intern. “I come from a background with limited economic means and have been able to study only because of scholarships and loans. Access to quality basic medical care has been available to me and is not proportionate to my paying capacities; 911 responds to my call as it would to the call from someone who stays overlooking Central Park in Manhattan, New York.”.

When we listen to such comments and reflect upon where India stands today compared to the quality of life that we offer to our citizens, it's a stark reminder of the opportunities lost, governance being absent and democracy not working.

Governance in Mumbai is delivered largely by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), which provides basic civic services (roads, water, solid waste management, open spaces), public education and public health care, and the state govt which takes care of law and order, higher education, industries and employment creation. Where do we stand today in terms of the quality of basic civic and security services necessary to guarantee quality ‘life’ in the city?

Civic woes: Renaming roads more important than providing quality ones
Mumbai’s roads have proven to be a bane for its citizens time and again. While we continue to grapple with roads that cave in and potholes, our elected representatives are more concerned about raising the issue of naming and renaming roads and chowks. Every seventh question asked is on renaming!
 On the other hand, with nearly 43,000 citizens’ complaints on roads alone in 2013, the civic administration continues to fail in its duty to provide a network of good quality all-weather roads. 

Education orphaned by the Education Department
Per capita spend by MCGM on students in its school is more than Rs 50,000; much more than the fees in most private schools in the city. Free rain coats, books, compass boxes, meal, etc., is provided in public schools. Then why has the number of students in MCGM schools came down by 21,000 from 2010 to 2013?

In a decade the total enrolment has come down from approximately 7.5 lakh to 4 lakh. Our surveys tell us that given an option 81% of parents whose children are currently enrolled in MCGM schools would send them to private schools, and the only reason 89% of them are not able to is because they will have to pay fees! 

Parents necessarily don’t care about freebies provided in MCGM schools. What they care about is quality education which they perceive private schools provide and hence the desire for private education, provided they have the economic capability. 

The education dept is in urgent need of both administrative and academic reforms to bring quality ‘education’ back into focus.

Public health: Unhealthy statistics
People are dying due to curable diseases and the administration is hiding behind statistics to avoid public scrutiny and furore. For example, in six years more than 46,000 have died due to Tuberculosis (TB).
In 2013, 7,127 died as per the death certificates issued under the Registration of Birth and Death Act 1969 by MCGM public health dept. This dept feigns ignorance of these vital health statistics, often publishing conflicting reports. In this case it shares information from its TB cell which runs the DOTS programme and has data of those who are registered under the programme. Thus, according to the TB cell only 1,333 people have died due to TB in the same period. Clearly, it's the data of only a subset of Mumbaikars compared to the rest who have accessed private/charitable health care and whose comprehensive data is available from death certificates. 

Policing and crime: Falling conviction rates
Much has been spoken in the media about Mumbai being a safe city, especially for women. Numbers, however, tell a different story. In a research survey commissioned by Praja Foundation, more than 21% of respondents felt unsafe in Mumbai. Rape cases in the city have increased by 57% from 2011-12 to 2012-13; conviction rate for class II serious offence fell to a low of 7% in 2012, from 10% in the previous year. These statistics are only a manifestation of a deeper malaise. Added to that our elected representatives deliberate poorly on pressing issues such as manpower shortage, low conviction rates (for serious offences) and the need to separate investigation from law & order.

Democracy and good governance
While each of the above sectors has its quintessential challenges, good governance is the common factor that can not only address sector-specific issues but also take advantage of the synergies between them. What differences will a coastal road or opening of the eastern sea front for convention centres and private residences or building a statue of our iconic leader make, if we do not address the above issues?
Like any other institution, the success of democracy hinges on a give and take between citizens and elected representatives. Informed voting is only the first, nevertheless most important step in this process. It needs to be followed up with a continuous exchange of information and ideas between all stakeholders rather than citizens as passive recipients of governance! Of all the forms of governance, democracy may be the better one, but it delivers only when we: citizens, elected representatives and government ‘make it work’.

(The authors are office-bearers of Praja Foundation).

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