McKinsey report reignites CEO for Mumbai debate

Mumbai needs an empowered and directly elected mayor to put things in order, the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) study has said, thus reigniting the debate of having a CEO to run the city.

The MGI report has stressed that reforms in the governance sector were imminent for the city, if Mumbai wanted to improve quality of life in urban sectors.

The current governance model, where bureaucrats are posted for a short-term to govern the city, is untenable, ineffective and muddled, the report said. Instead, it recommended a set up where directly elected mayors are empowered to run the show.

The directly elected metropolitan mayor should be the overall head for the metropolitan region and s/he must be accorded executive powers.

The metropolitan commissioner must function under the mayor and a planning committee, which would comprise of experts, would oversee urban planning and implementation in the metropolitan region.

The study also recommended more powers for mayors of the municipal corporations located within the metropolitan region.

The mayors, the study stated, should be directly elected and given executive powers and the city must be run under a well defined mayor-municipal commissioner partnership.

“The idea was to combine mayor’s political prowess with the commissioner’s administrative abilities,” Ajit Mohan, who headed the study, said.

The report cited examples of successful governance models in London, South Africa, and China, which were similarly devolved.