Term of last elected municipal corporation ends in Maharashtra

All 27 municipal corporations in Maharashtra are now under the control of the state government through appointed administrators, with no elected bodies. The total budget of ₹1,10,556 crore is also under the government's control. This has raised concerns about ruling party intervention and the absence of people's representatives in decision-making. However, it is expected that decision-making and completion of civic works will be faster in this situation.

MUMBAI: As the year 2023 ended, so did the rule of people’s representatives in Maharashtra’s municipal corporations. There is now not a single elected body in Maharashtra’s 27 municipal corporations, and their total budget of a whopping ₹1,10,556 crore is under the indirect control of the state government through its appointed ‘administrators’.

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Of the 27 municipal corporations, 25 were already under an administrator’s rule. The terms of the last two, Ahmednagar and Dhule, ended this weekend. The Ahmednagar corporation had, in fact, announced the last general body meeting on December 29, with certain work proposals on the agenda. But it had to be cancelled, as a government order on the appointment of Pankaj Jawale was issued on December 28. Two days later, Amita Dagade-Patil was appointed administrator of the Dhule municipal corporation. Although, technically, an administrator is an authority, s/he is appointed by the state government and has to report to it.

The terms of elected bodies in the 27 municipal corporations began to end from 2020. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, there were no elections in 2020 and 2021. During the tenure of the MVA government under chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, a proposal to increase the number of corporators from 227 to 236 was passed, as was a decision to restructure the city’s wards. However, after the change in power in June 2022, the Shinde-Fadnavis government scrapped both decisions. With both matters going to the Supreme Court as well as the matter of OBC reservation in local bodies, there have been no elections in municipal corporations, zilla parishads or municipal councils ever since.

According to sources in the government, there will be no municipal elections till the Maharashtra assembly elections in October 2024 are over and a new government is formed in the state. In the politics of elections, budgets and fund allocation play an important role. As of now, the state government controls its own budget of ₹5,47,450 crores. Besides that, it will now have indirect control over all the municipal corporations with a total amount Rs.1,10,556 crores.

While speaking on the effects of the absence of an elected body in municipal corporations and administrator rule, a senior official expressed concern about the fact that such a situation made way for ruling party intervention. “When there is an elected body, it reflects the voice of the people and enables budget spending with a focus on public interest works,” he said. “In the absence of an elected body and indirect control of the government, there is always a fear of decisions being taken as per the ruling party’s interest.”

Another official said that in democracy, people’s representatives play a crucial role in deciding priorities based on public demands. “Although the administration prepares the budget, elected representatives give areas of priorities and also play a crucial role in deciding which part of the city needs what kind of amenities,” he said. “In the absence of people’s representatives, this process stops. The people’s voice becomes less important. But at the same time there is one positive aspect to it: the process of decision-making and completion of civic works becomes faster.”