The state government is set to introduce the Nagar Raj Bill, which aims to decentralise power in Maharashtra’s cities, much like the Panchayati Raj Act did in rural India.
The state government is set to introduce the Nagar Raj Bill, which aims to decentralise power in Maharashtra’s cities, much like the Panchayati Raj Act did in rural India. The government hopes to table the bill during the monsoon session of the legislature, scheduled to begin on June 1.
The bill, if it becomes law, would provide a legally constituted mechanism, similar to the municipal corporation’s advanced locality management (ALM) system, which has no legal standing but using which citizens interact with civic authorities to effect positive changes in their areas.
Activists, however, worry that the state is seeking to dilute the bill, making it almost worthless. The draft bill seeks to “nominate” rather than elect the area sabha representative (ASR), a key component of the original bill proposed by the Union urban development ministry. This means the local MP, MLA, or corporator will choose the ASR. Power will, therefore, continue to be controlled by political coteries.
A source in Mantralaya said, “The bill was to be tabled in March, but owing to the elections, it got delayed. It will now be tabled in the monsoon session of the assembly.”
The source said there was no final decision yet on whether the ASR would be nominated or elected. Another problem that activists have with the draft is that it allows area sabhas to extend to a maximum of five polling booths (or five earmarked localities) instead of the two suggested by the Centre. “The [idea] was to ensure more people-to-people connect, so that those who are left out can also have a say,” said Surendra Srivastava from Loksatta, an NGO that is pursuing the bill’s passage.
“How will one person responsible for five polling booths be able to keep in touch with 5,000 people? Why do they [the government] not understand that, after all, they will be encouraging responsibility among citizens at a lower level, and have a system that works as per people’s needs?”
But a Mantralaya official claimed that “in a city like Mumbai, connecting to people in five booths will not pose a problem”.
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