Urban U.P. is battling for political supremacy. We will soon know who are the Mayors of the various Municipal Corporations. In the midst of this slugfest have any of the mayoral candidates actually thought of what they are getting in to?
Sometime ago I attended a meeting at the Circuit House, Kanpur, convened by the Secretary for Urban Development of the Govt of India. He asked us to think out of the box for developing smart cities. I said that it would never happen because the Mayor was like an emasculated person, impotent and incapable of producing anything. The Mayor and local Member of Parliament, who were present, were shocked.
The office of Mayor was resurrected sometime in 1988. Long before that the U.P. Urban Development Act of 1973 had snatched most of the municipal powers and vested them in the Vice Chairpersons of the various Development Authorities. They are bureaucrats, not elected representatives. An attempt to restore parity was made in 1992 when Parliament passed the 74th Amendment to the Constitution, vesting immense powers in the Municipal Corporations, similar to the 73rd Amendment that ushered in Panchayati Raj in the rural areas.
Unfortunately, 25 years down the line the 74th Amendment has not been implemented in U.P. Articles 243P to 243ZG of the Constitution clearly spell out the role of the Municipal Corporations. However, keeping in mind the federal structure of the country, these Articles use the word “may” instead of “shall”, thereby making them seemingly optional; a loophole which State Govts have exploited.
So the Municipal Corporations, and by default the Mayors, are powerless stooges in the hands of faceless bureaucrats, who throw the rule book at them whenever they attempt anything. The powers of the Municipal Corporations are further listed in the Twelfth Schedule of the Constitution. They include urban planning, land use, construction etc that presently vest in the Development Authorities. Even fire services, urban forestry, poverty alleviation, tanneries and slaughter houses come under the Municipal Corporations, and not the State Govt. Ironically, the former Mayor of Lucknow was crying himself hoarse for the implementation of the 74th Amendment. But after becoming the Dy Chief Minister of the State he has become strangely silent on the cause that till not so long ago he vociferously espoused!
Let me give one example of how grandiose plans are foisted by outsiders on the unsuspecting populace, without consulting the elected representatives. Under the JNNURM, low floor, wide bodied, AC buses were sent to the cities of narrow lanes, pot holed roads, and commuters used to cheap tempo fares. What we actually needed were mid sized buses that had high ground clearance and open windows, with reasonable fares. There are several such instances of lop-sided “planning”.
Regardless of who all are elected Mayors, it is fervently hoped that they will study the 74th Amendment and strive for its early implementation in the State. Else this will be another exercise in futility, with impotent leaders.
13th November 2017
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